Around
by smile1
Summary: R/J!!! *DONE!* On a sad night when no one's there for her, he is. But when things start to come together for them there's someone who tries to come between them. ENJOY! :-)
1. There's something about him

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey everyone!!! I know it's been a while since I updated any of my stories, but I have been sick the last couple of days so I wasn't really in the mood to write. But I'm feeling better now so I'll probably update *The simple game of jealousy* soon. Meanwhile I hope you guys like this chapter. This is basically going to be a one chapter story, except if you really want me to continue of course. So please review and let me know.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Lane: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Lane sat down across from Rory.  
  
Lane: ''Sorry I'm late.''  
  
R: ''You're late ? I hadn't noticed yet.''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah go ahead, rub it in.''  
  
R: ''I am, but thanks for your permission  
  
Lane: ''Welcome. I'm starving, can I have a bite of your burger ?''  
  
Before Rory could answer Lane grabbed Rory's burger and took a bite.  
  
R: ''Go right ahead.''  
  
Lane: ''Thanks.''  
  
Lane took another bite.  
  
R: ''You do realize that you just took my burger without asking me, right ?''  
  
Lane: ''Not true, I did ask you.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, but you didn't give me the chance to answer.''  
  
Lane: ''I know, but I'm so hungry. And besides you would have said yes anyway.''  
  
R: ''Probably, but what if I had said no ?''  
  
Lane: ''But you wouldn't have.''  
  
R: ''I know, but what if ?''  
  
Lane: ''Then I probably would have ordered my own burger.''  
  
R: ''Probably ?''  
  
Lane sighed and handed the burger to Rory.  
  
Lane: ''You want it back ?''  
  
R: ''No, I was just saying.''  
  
Lane: ''Are you sure, cause we can share if you want to.''  
  
R: ''Yes, just eat it.''  
  
Lane: ''Okay, if you say so.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes at Lane.  
  
Lane: ''Should I be scared now ?''  
  
R: ''Maybe a little.''  
  
Lane took another bite of her burger and closed her eyes.  
  
Lane: ''Hmmmm it's delicious. Are you sure that you don't want a bite ?''  
  
Rory was just about to answer when Jess interrupted her.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey Jess.''  
  
Lane: ''Jess huh ?''  
  
Rory shot Lane a warning look.  
  
J: ''Yeah. Who are you ?''  
  
Lane: ''I'm Lane, nice to meet you.''  
  
J: ''Whatever. So what do you two girls want ?''  
  
Lane: ''Well, I know what I want. How about you Ror ? Are you in the mood for.......?''  
  
Lane stopped when Rory kicked her under the table.  
  
Lane: ''That hurt.''  
  
R: ''Sorry, but my foot just slipped.''  
  
Lane: ''Really ? Well maybe my mouth will just slip in a minute ?''  
  
R: ''Lane.......''  
  
Lane: ''Or not.''  
  
J: ''Everything okay ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah. I'll have a coffee please......and another burger.''  
  
Lane: ''Another one ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, the one I had just magically disappeared.''  
  
Lane: ''Strange.''  
  
R: ''Yeah strange.''  
  
J: ''Real strange. But I'm going to let you two in on a little secret.''  
  
Lane: ''Let me guess....you look even better when you're na.......''  
  
Rory gave Lane a look.  
  
Lane: ''Sorry, now what were you saying ?''  
  
J: ''Eating a burger doesn't mean that it magically disappeared.''  
  
Lane: ''Really ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, so I guess that you'll be paying for your food from now on.''  
  
Rory laughed softly.  
  
J: ''I'll be right back with your order.''  
  
Jess smirked and went back to the counter.  
  
Lane: ''So who's he ?''  
  
R: ''That's Jess, Luke's nephew.''  
  
Lane: ''Are you kidding ?''  
  
R: ''Nope, he just moved here a couple of days ago.''  
  
Lane: ''Where from ?''  
  
R: ''New York.''  
  
Lane: ''New York ? Why would he wanna give up New York for a place as dull as Stars Hollow ?''  
  
R: ''I don't think he had a choice.''  
  
Lane: ''What do you mean ?''  
  
R: ''His mom send him here to stay with Luke for a while.''  
  
Lane: ''How do you know all this ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''I talked to him a couple of times.''  
  
Lane: ''He's hot. He has a big mouth, but still. Don't you think ?''  
  
Rory shrugged again and glanced at Jess.  
  
R: ''I guess he's cute.''  
  
Lane: ''Just cute ? He's delicious.''  
  
Rory laughed.  
  
R: ''Delicious ? You're making him sound like a piece of cake or something.''  
  
Lane: ''I was thinking more like candy. Isn't he fine ?''  
  
R: ''Fine ? Lane.''  
  
Lane: ''O come on Ror. Admit that he's fine.''  
  
R: ''I admit he's........''  
  
Lane: ''He's........?''  
  
Rory glanced at Jess again.  
  
R: ''Different.''  
  
Lane: ''Different ? That's it ?''  
  
R: ''I have a boyfriend Lane.''  
  
Lane: ''Right, you're practically engaged to him.''  
  
R: ''Yep and you're invited to the wedding.''  
  
J: ''What wedding ?''  
  
He put a cup of coffee and a burger down in front of Rory.  
  
Lane: ''Her and Dean's.''  
  
J: ''Your boyfriend Dean ?''  
  
Lane: ''Yep she's taken, but I'm not.''  
  
Rory smiled. Speaking of a big mouth.....  
  
J: ''What a surprise.''  
  
Lane crossed her arms.  
  
Lane: ''Okay I'm over you now.''  
  
J: ''Over me ? Did you have a little crush on me ? How sweet.''  
  
Lane: ''Well I wasn't ready to mary you yet.''  
  
J: ''I'm sorry to break your heart, but.........''  
  
Lane: ''But what ? Not your type ?''  
  
J: ''Exactly.''  
  
Lane: ''Then what is Jess ?''  
  
J: ''I kind of go for sweet innocent types.''  
  
He met Rory's eyes for a minute and smirked at her.  
  
J: ''Enjoy your food ladies.''  
  
He turned around and went back to the counter.  
  
Lane: ''Can you believe him ?''  
  
R: ''I guess you're over him.''  
  
Lane: ''You bet I am. If I never have to talk to him again, I'll die happy.''  
  
R: ''Did I mention that he's going to Stars Hollow High ?''  
  
Lane: ''No you didn't.''  
  
R: ''Must have slipped my mind.''  
  
D: ''Hey.''  
  
Rory looked up and smiled when she saw Dean.  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Dean brought his head closer to hers and softly kissed her on the lips.  
  
Lane: ''O.......kay I think I'm going now.''  
  
R: ''You don't have to.''  
  
Lane: ''I know, but I have to be home in a couple of minutes anyway.''  
  
Lane got up.  
  
R: ''I'll see you tomorrow.''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah.''  
  
She grabbed Rory's burger and a napkin.  
  
R: ''Hey !''  
  
Lane: ''What ? I get hungry on my way home.''  
  
R: ''You do huh ?''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah, that's why I'm taking this burger. If it's okay with you of course.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, go ahead. I'll just order another one.''  
  
Lane: ''Do that. Tell me when you guys set a date for the wedding. Bye.''  
  
She patted Dean on his arms and headed for the door.  
  
R: ''Bye !''  
  
D: ''Yeah bye. What is she talking about ?''  
  
Dean sat down across from Rory.  
  
R: ''She thinks that we're engaged.''  
  
D: ''She does ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, ridiculous right ? I mean if we were I would have a ring on my finger.''  
  
D: ''You have a bracelet.''  
  
R: ''You're right. I guess a bracelet counts as a ring.''  
  
D: ''I hope it does.''  
  
R: ''So I guess we're engaged.''  
  
D: ''Guess so. May I have the honor of kissing my wife to be ?''  
  
R: ''Yes you may.''  
  
Dean leaned over the table and kissed Rory. When they pulled apart he wiped a strand of hair away from her face and looked at her.  
  
D: ''You're beautiful.''  
  
Rory started to blush.  
  
R: ''You're beautiful too.''  
  
D: ''Why thank you. It's the new foundation isn't it ?''  
  
Rory laughed.  
  
D: ''I'm lucky to have such a great girlfriend. I mean you're nice, sweet, beautiful, cute.''  
  
R: ''You forgot smart.''  
  
Dean kissed her again. When they broke the kiss Rory caught Jess looking at her. He nodded at her and Rory quickly looked away. There was something about him. She looked at Jess again. This time he smirked at her and she started to blush.  
  
D: ''Rory........''  
  
Rory looked away from Jess and met Dean's eyes.  
  
R: ''Yeah ?''  
  
D: ''Finally.''  
  
R: ''Sorry I was thinking.''  
  
D: ''Since when do you blush when you're thinking ?''  
  
R: ''I.......eh do that. I don't know why. My mom does it too. Must be a mother daughter thing.''  
  
D: ''Really ? It wouldn't have something to do with Luke's nephew over there ?''  
  
Rory's eyes immediately went to Jess.  
  
R: ''No, course not.''  
  
D: ''It would be more believable if you looked at me instead of him.''  
  
Rory looked at Dean again.  
  
R: ''What ?''  
  
D: ''Rory.....''  
  
R: ''Sorry.''  
  
D: ''It's okay.''  
  
He looked at her for a while with a worried look on his face. He looked at Jess and back at Rory again. He sighed and got up.  
  
D: ''I gotta go.''  
  
R: ''Dean.....''  
  
D: ''You don't have to explain Rory. See you tomorrow.''  
  
He turned around and left the diner. Rory looked at her hands. She was an awful girlfriend. She should be fascinated by every word that came out of Dean's mouth, but instead she was fascinated by every movement that Jess made.  
  
J: ''So I guess the wedding's of.''  
  
Rory sighed and gave Jess an annoyed look. Jess gave her an amused look and sat down across from her.  
  
J: ''Wanna see a trick ?''  
  
R: ''Is it one where you magically disappear ?''  
  
Rory smiled at him sweetly.  
  
J: ''No, I'm working on that.''  
  
R: ''Then no, I don't wanna see it.''  
  
J: ''Come on, it will be fun.''  
  
R: ''For whom ?''  
  
J: ''For the both os us.''  
  
He got out a stack of cards.  
  
J: ''Pick a card, any card.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and took a card out of the stack.  
  
J: ''Is it the three of hearts ?''  
  
Rory looked at the card and smiled.  
  
R: ''Yeah. How did you do that ?''  
  
J: ''It's easy. I can see it in your eyes.''  
  
R: ''In my eyes ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, I can see the answer in your eyes.''  
  
R: ''So what you're saying is that you can actually read the answer in my eyes ?''  
  
J: ''Basically, yeah.''  
  
He met her eyes and reached for the card that Rory was holding in her hand. When he took the card out of her hand their hands slightly touched. A shiver ran down Rory's spine.  
  
R: ''Amazing.''  
  
Jess smirked.  
  
J: ''I can teach you.''  
  
They locked eyes again. Suddenly the door of the diner opened and a mand and a woman came in.  
  
L: ''I don't wanna talk about it here Chris.''  
  
C: ''Well I do Lorelai. Unlike you I don't care about what people think.''  
  
Rory looked up when she recognized the voices of her mom and dad. Lorelai turned around to face Chris.  
  
L: ''Fine, you wanna talk let's talk. What do you wanna talk about ?''  
  
C: ''About my daughter.''  
  
L: ''It's our daughter.''  
  
C: ''Why hasn't she called or visited yet ?!''  
  
Lorelai shrugged.  
  
L: ''Maybe she doesn't want to.''  
  
C: ''Bull ! You didn't tell her yet, did you ?!''  
  
Rory turned her head and carefully listened to the argument that her mom and dad were having.  
  
C: ''You didn't tell her yet that Sherry just had a baby, did you ?! Why haven't you Lorelai ? Scared that she might actually like Sherry and her half sister ?''  
  
Lorelai and Chris kept yelling at each other. Rory couldn't take it anymore and got up.  
  
R: ''Stop it !''  
  
Lorelai and Chris stopped for a moment to look at Rory.  
  
C: ''Rory........I didn't........''  
  
R: ''Stop yelling at mom.''  
  
L: ''Sweets.........''  
  
R: ''You didn't tell me ? How could you ? Don't you think that I have the right to know about my half sister ?''  
  
L: ''Rory, I'm sorry........''  
  
But Rory didn't hear it. She ran towards the door and left. Jess grabbed his jacket and left the diner too. He found Rory sitting on the steps in front of her house. She had her head buried in her arms. Jess walked over to her. He didn't know what to say. So he sat down next to her without saying a word. He listened to her cry for a while. Finally he moved a little closer to her and put his arm around her. Rory let him and buried her head in his chest. Jess felt her body shaking and slowly started to stroke her hair. He didn't know what else to do. So he just held her and listened to her cry. 


	2. The story of my emotions

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! First of all I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed the first chapter. I really appreciate the reviews. So thank you guys for that. And second of all the last chapter of *The simple game of jealousy* is up so please read it if you haven't yet. And third of all the reason why I updated two stories today is, because I might not be able to update any of my stories this week. I'm going to be real busy with school and everything. Sorry. Please review this chapter. They'll just keep me happy during my busy week and maybe even give me inspiration to write the next chapter (of this and the other stories) faster.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory Gilmore was lying on her stomach on the bridge staring at a piece of paper in front of her. She was chewing on the back of her pen. She looked at the words on the paper once more. Did that describe their love in the right way ? She knew that there weren't enough words in the world to describe the way that they felt for each other, but she was doing a pretty good job so far. She looked at the copy of Romeo and Juliet that she brought with her for inspiration. This book was one of her favorites and she had read it over a hundred times. But now that she had to write an essay about Romeo and Juliet's love for each other she couldn't remember a word that they had said to each other in the book. She sighed and put her pen down. She really needed a break. She looked at her watch. She had been here for three hours already. She sighed again and rested her head on her arms and looked at the water. As soon as she woke up this morning she went to the bridge. Because she knew that as soon as her mom got up she would wanna talk about everything and she didn't wanna talk about it. Not yet anyway. She was still get used of the idea of having a half sister. When she heard footsteps on the bridge she lifted her head up to see who it was. When she saw Jess she couldn't help but smile. He always seemed to be around. Just like last night. She really needed someone and suddenly he showed up. She lay her head back down on her arms and watched him as he came closer and sat down.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
He looked at the piece of paper that was lying in front of Rory. Rory saw what he was looking at and quickly put her hands on top of it. Jess met her eyes.  
  
R: ''I don't like it when people read something that I wrote.''  
  
J: ''Why not ? Afraid that you're bad at it ?''  
  
R: ''Yes actually. Unlike you I'm not real confidant in.......well anything I do really.''  
  
J: ''What are you writing ?''  
  
R: ''An essay.''  
  
J: ''About Romeo and Juliet ?''  
  
He picked up Rory's copy of Romeo and Juliet.  
  
R: ''Yeah. I have to write this stupid essay about their love for each other and I can't seem to find the right words.''  
  
J: ''I'm sure that you're doing fine.''  
  
R: ''Yeah right.''  
  
J: ''What do you have so far ?''  
  
Rory looked up at him again.  
  
R: ''I'm not letting you read it.''  
  
J: ''Then read it to me.''  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
She looked away and stared at the water.  
  
J: ''I won't make fun of it or anything.''  
  
R: ''Promise ?''  
  
J: ''Cross my heart and die.''  
  
Rory smiled and removed her hands from the piece of paper.  
  
R: ''Okay.''  
  
Jess carefully took the piece of paper in his hands and started to read the words that Rory wrote down. As soon as he read the first couple of lines he was lost in her words. She really had talent. It was almost as if he was right there, seeing through the eyes of Romeo and feeling everything that he was feeling. When he was done he looked at Rory again. She had an almost scared look in her eyes. As if she was afraid that he might really hate her work. He handed her the piece of paper.  
  
J: ''It's beautifully written.''  
  
Rory let out a sigh of relief and took the paper. She read it again and smiled. He was right. It wasn't that bad. She had done better, but this definitely was something that she could be proud of. She looked at Jess again.  
  
R: ''Not that bad ?''  
  
Jess shook his head.  
  
J: ''Not that bad at all. It's pretty good actually.''  
  
R: ''Thanks.''  
  
J: ''No problem. You could become a real talented writer.''  
  
R: ''Maybe, but that's not what I want.''  
  
J: ''Then what do you wanna be ?''  
  
R: ''A journalist.''  
  
J: ''I was close.''  
  
R: ''Yeah.........Do you think that I could become a journalist ?''  
  
J: ''You can do anything that you put your mind to.''  
  
Rory started to laugh.  
  
R: ''Where did you hear that ?''  
  
Jess smirked.  
  
J: ''On a commercial.''  
  
R: ''Figured, no offense.''  
  
J: ''None take.''  
  
Rory laughed again.  
  
R: ''So any idea how I could continue ?''  
  
J: ''Continue ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, on my essay ?''  
  
J: ''Not a clue.''  
  
R: ''Come on. You must have some ideas. I mean don't you have to write essays at school ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, but that doesn't mean that I do them.''  
  
R: ''So I guess that you don't wanna be a teacher when you grow up ?''  
  
J: ''No.''  
  
R: ''Then what do you wanna be ?''  
  
Jess shrugged and opened the copy of Rome and Juliet.  
  
R: ''You're going to make me guess, aren't you ?''  
  
Jess shrugged again and took a pen out of his pocket.  
  
J: ''Maybe.''  
  
R: ''Fine, I'll guess. You wanna be a painter. Yeah, one day when I visit a museum I'll see your paintings hanging on every wall.''  
  
J: ''You sure have a big imaginiation.''  
  
R: ''Or maybe you'll end up being the owner of a diner too, just like Luke. But instead of Luke's it will be called Jess'.''  
  
J: ''That's something that will never happen.''  
  
R: ''You don't know that.''  
  
J: ''Fine, I'll make sure that it won't happen.''  
  
R: ''Well then give me a hint. Is it something creative ?''  
  
J: ''I believe it is.''  
  
R: ''I know, you're going to become a fashion designer.''  
  
J: ''Yep, you got it.''  
  
R: ''You're no help.''  
  
J: ''I didn't know that I was supposed to help.''  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''What ?''  
  
R: ''Tell me.''  
  
J: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''Cause I just told you what I wanted to do......''  
  
J: ''Yeah and don't forget that it was your own free will.''  
  
R: ''I wanna know.''  
  
J: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''Cause I'm interested.''  
  
J: ''Again I ask why ?''  
  
Rory sighed.  
  
R: ''Fine, don't tell me. See if I care.''  
  
Finally Jess looked at her with an amused look on his face.  
  
J: ''I wanna be a writer.''  
  
R: ''A writer ?''  
  
J: ''Yep.''  
  
R: ''Really ?''  
  
J: ''I already said yes, didn't I ?''  
  
R: ''That's great. Are you good at it ?''  
  
Jess shrugged.  
  
J: ''Don't know.''  
  
R: ''Well what do your teachers say ?''  
  
J: ''Nothing.''  
  
R: ''Right, you don't write essays.''  
  
J: ''Exactly.''  
  
R: ''Have you ever written stories before ?''  
  
Jess nodded.  
  
R: ''Can I read one ?''  
  
J: ''I don't know.''  
  
R: ''Why not ?''  
  
Jess shrugged.  
  
R: ''I promise that I won't laugh at them.''  
  
Jess met her eyes for a second and smirked.  
  
J: ''Maybe.''  
  
Rory seemed satisfied with that answer and rested her head on her arms again. Jess handed her the book.  
  
J: ''Here. This is some of my early work.''  
  
Rory took the book and saw that he wrote something in the margins.  
  
R: ''You do know that it's my book right ?''  
  
J: ''You wanted to read something that I wrote.''  
  
Rory didn't say anything and started to read what he wrote. It was amazing. It was how he saw Romeo and Juliet's love and Rory had never read anything that was written with so much emotion before. She glanced at Jess briefly before she continued reading. Sometimes she wondered is Jess was made of stone. He didn't seem to care about anything or anyone, but she knew that he really did. He just didn't let his emotions show. Not in a way that you could immediately see anyway. But if you gave him a piece of paper and a pencil the emotions just came. And they were written down so amazing. Rory knew that if he did write essays he would probably get an A+ on each and every one of them. He had an amazing grasp of the english language. She could probably learn a couple of things from him about writing. She closed the book and looked up at him again.  
  
R: ''You're an amazing writer.''  
  
Jess smirked at her.  
  
J: ''Thanks.''  
  
R: ''It makes my writing look like nothing.''  
  
Jess smirk dissapeared from his face and he met her eyes.  
  
J: ''You shouldn't think like that.''  
  
R: ''Well maybe not nothing, but your writing is much better.''  
  
The smirk returned to his face.  
  
J: ''I guess skipping school is good for something.''  
  
R: ''In your case it is.''  
  
Rory rested her head on her arms again and read what Jess wrote again. Jess watched her. He had to hold back a smile when he saw how lost she was in the words that he had written down. He wondered what her reaction would be if he showed her one of his stories ? Jess smirked. He and Rory had more things in common than he thought.  
  
J: ''So how are you doing ?''  
  
Rory looked up with a confused look on her face.  
  
J: ''You know after what happened last night.......?''  
  
R: ''O that.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, that.''  
  
R: ''I don't know. I guess I sort of freaked out. I just had a fight with Dean and my mom didn't tell me about me having a half sister...........I'm sorry.''  
  
J: ''Sorry ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, about last night. I'm surprised you even stayed.''  
  
J: ''Me too.''  
  
Jess looked at the water. He was surprised. Normally he always was the one to walk away when people were crying. But last night when he saw Rory he just couldn't just leave her there.  
  
R: ''Thank you.''  
  
J: ''How are things between you and your mom ?''  
  
R: ''We're not talking. Well actually she probably did wanna talk about it, but I didn't.''  
  
J: ''And things between you and Dean ?''  
  
R: ''We're talking, but things are different even though Dean........well Dean's pretty good in just ignoring the problem. He forgets quickly.''  
  
J: ''That's not his problem. He just has trouble remembering big words and numbers.''  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''Sorry.''  
  
Rory sighed and grabbed her pen.  
  
R: ''I better get back to my essay.''  
  
J: ''I'm not stopping you.''  
  
Rory looked at him once more and concentrated on the piece of paper in front of her. But it was hard. She had so many things running through her head and one of those things was Jess Mariano....... 


	3. O that she knew she were!

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey everyone!!! Here's the third chapter. It's pretty long and there's a lot of R/J sweetness in it. I'm not sure where this story is going yet, I have some ideas don't worry. Anyway thanks to everyone who read and reviewed my story. I guess I'm going to say the same thing that I said at the other two chapters too. If you won't me to continue, I'll continue. Please review and let me know. And please tell me what you think of it too. Thanks.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory was still lying on the bridge on her stomach staring at her essay that was almost done. She was deep in thought, but she wasn't thinking about her essay even though it seemed that way. Her essay was the last thing on her mind actually. Her head was filled with thoughts about Jess. She glanced at him. He didn't seem to notice that she was looking at him. Rory looked at her essay again. She was almost done and she had Jess to thank for that really. She had gotten inspiration out of the words that he had written in the margins of her book. Rory sighed silently and closed her copy of Romeo and Juliet. She had to stop thinking about Jess, but it was hard. Everywhere she looked she was reminded of him. The words that Jess wrote were already engraved in her memory and she just kept thinking about them. She bit her lip and wondered if she should be worried about this ? But she didn't get the chance to worry, because suddenly she heard a pair of light footsteps on the bridge that she recognized almost immediately.  
  
Lane: ''Rory !''  
  
Rory looked up from her essay and saw Lane quickly making her way toward her.  
  
R: ''Lane ? What are you doing here ?''  
  
Lane stopped and put her hands on her hips.  
  
Lane: ''Nice to see you again too.''  
  
R: ''I'm sorry Lane, I didn't mean it that way. It's just.......you never come here.''  
  
Lane smiled and removed her hands from her hips.  
  
Lane: ''I know, but I kind of had to.''  
  
R: ''You had to ?''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah, because if I wouldn't have you would have forgotten about Dean, who's at Luke's right now waiting for you.''  
  
R: ''O my god. I forgot.''  
  
She sat up straight and started to grab her stuff.  
  
J: ''You forgot about your boyfriend ?''  
  
Jess looked at Rory from behind his book, his smirk still hidden from her. He found it amusing. Rory who claimed to 'love' Dean just forgot about him. He couldn't help but wonder if he maybe had something to do with that ? Rory stopped for a moment to meet Jess' eyes.  
  
R: ''You better not be smiling.''  
  
J: ''I wouldn't dare.''  
  
Rory looked at Jess once more and continued to pick up her stuff. She was glad that her hair was hiding her face. This way neither Jess or Lane could see the smile that appeared on her face. She saw the amused look in Jess' eyes and she knew that he probably had a smirk on his face. She quickly wiped the smile off of her face and got up.  
  
Lane: ''How did you forget about Dean anyway ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''I was working on my essay and I guess I just forgot about the time.''  
  
Lane: ''So it has nothing to do with him ?''  
  
Lane nodded in the direction of Jess. Rory didn't answer immediately. She was going to say no, but she wasn't sure if that would be an honest answer. She quickly glanced at Jess and finally she shook her head. Lane crossed her arms and met Rory's eyes. She obviously didn't believe her.  
  
Lane: ''Whatever you say.''  
  
R: ''Let's just go.''  
  
Lane: ''That's what I wanted to accomplish.''  
  
Rory and Lane started to walk towards the other end of the bridge. Jess could hear them walk away. He quickly closed his book and got up too. He waited until they reached the other end of the bridge before he started to walk in the same direction as the two girls. He looked at Rory and smiled. She was truly one of a kind.  
  
Lane stopped in front of the diner and turned around so that she was facing Rory.  
  
Lane: ''I have to get home.''  
  
R: ''Really ? Can't you stay a little while longer ? I'll buy you a burger.''  
  
Lane laughed and shook her head.  
  
Lane: ''No, you know my mom and besides I think that Dean would rather be alone with you.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, alone with me in a crowded diner. Real romantic.''  
  
Lane: ''It's the thought that counts.''  
  
R: ''Maybe I can get Luke to put up screens or something so that me and Dean can have some privacy.''  
  
Lane laughed again.  
  
Lane: ''I can just picture it now. I gotta go.''  
  
R: ''Bye.''  
  
Lane: ''You still owe me a burger.''  
  
Rory shook her head and watched her best friend disappear around a corner. She turned around and smiled when she saw Jess standing behind her.  
  
J: ''Does that mean that you're happy to see me ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, now I can get my coffee faster.''  
  
J: ''Good to know that I mean so much to you.''  
  
He opened the door and held it open for Rory.  
  
R: ''Thank you.''  
  
She walked past him and as she did their arms slightly touched. Just for a moment, but it was long enough to make Rory's heart skip a beat.  
  
Jess closed the door and started to head towards the counter. He didn't say anything to her, nor did he look at her. He was still recovering from their arms touching.  
  
R: ''Don't forget my coffee !''  
  
Jess turned around and met her eyes. He couldn't find the words, so instead he just nodded at her.  
  
Rory carefully placed her fingers on the spot where her arm touched Jess'. She started to worry again about her feelings for Jess. Were they starting to be more than friendly ? She shook the feeling off and looked around the place. Finally her eyes found Dean in the crowded diner. He was sitting at a table in the middle of the diner. She saw him checking his watch and felt guilty about forgetting about him. She removed her fingers from her arm and walked over to him.  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Dean looked up at her.  
  
D: ''How nice of you to finally join me.''  
  
R: ''I'm so sorry that I'm late.''  
  
D: ''Let me guess you forgot.''  
  
R: ''Well I kind of lost track of time.''  
  
D: ''I'm sure you did. I hope he was worth your time.''  
  
Rory finally understood what he was talking about. He was talking about Jess. He saw her come in with him. But he had it all wrong, Jess didn't have anything to do with it. She just got caught up in writing her essay and she had a lot of things on her mind. Okay Jess had been on her mind, she would admit that, but only because she had been wondering about his writing skills. She was wondering how he could write like that when he never did essays ? Rory looked at Dean and felt guilty again. She had to stop doing this. She was thinking of Jess without really knowing it. This was what Dean meant.  
  
R: ''Dean, I........''  
  
D: ''You don't have to say a thing. I'm sure that Jess is much more interesting than me.''  
  
R: ''No, he's not.''  
  
Well really he was, but she wasn't going to tell Dean that. It would just upset him even more and that was the last thing that she wanted right now. She and Jess just had some things in common that they could talk about.  
  
R: ''I was just working on my essay and he helped me with it. I got stuck for a while and I didn't know how to continue, so he helped me. He really is a talented writer.''  
  
D: ''I doubt that, I mean he hardly ever attends classes.''  
  
Rory decided to just ignore that comment.  
  
R: ''And I kind of got lost in my own thoughts. I was thinking about my mom and........you know.''  
  
The look in Dean's eyes softened and he looked at her with a understanding look on his face.  
  
D: ''You two are still not talking ?''  
  
R: ''No. So can I sit down ?''  
  
D: ''Of course.''  
  
Rory sat down across from him and stared at her hands for a while. Now that she had mentioned it to Dean she remembered what had happened last night. Suddenly Dean took one of her hands in his and gently placed a kiss on top of it.  
  
D: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
R: ''For what ?''  
  
D: ''For always thinking the worst of things.''  
  
Rory looked up at him and smiled.  
  
R: ''You don't always think the worst of things.''  
  
Dean smiled at her and kissed her hand again.  
  
D: ''Do you want my advice ?''  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
D: ''I think you should just talk to your mom and listen to what she has to say. Knowing you, you probably didn't even give her the time to explain.''  
  
R: ''Probably not.''  
  
D: ''I have to get back to Doose's.''  
  
R: ''But we just got here.''  
  
Dean gave her a look.  
  
R: ''Well I just got here.''  
  
D: ''I'll see you tomorrow.''  
  
R: ''I promise that I'll be on time.''  
  
Dean smiled and leaned over the table to kiss her. When they broke the kiss he got up and started to head over to the door. When he reached the door he turned around to look at Rory. She was on her way to the counter. Dean saw Jess standing at the counter and Dean clenched his fists. Why did Jess always have to be around Rory ? Dean left the diner and silently closed the door behind him.  
  
Rory quietly sat down on a stool and found Jess with her eyes. As soon as Jess saw her, he came over to her.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey, can I have some coffee please ?''  
  
J: ''What's wrong ?''  
  
R: ''Nothing, I just want some coffee.''  
  
J: ''Too bad. Unless you tell me what's really going on, you won't get your coffee.''  
  
R: ''Jess......''  
  
J: ''Rory.......''  
  
He locked eyes with her.  
  
R: ''Fine. I'm still not talking to my mom and it's bothering me. I mean I want things to be normal between us again, but I don't know what to do. Can I have my coffee now ?''  
  
Jess nodded and poured some coffee in a cup. When he handed it to her, she gladly took it and took a sip.  
  
J: ''Why don't you go talk to her ?''  
  
R: ''That's what Dean said.''  
  
J: ''O yippie.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled when she heard his reaction.  
  
J: ''Seriously though. Go home and talk to her.''  
  
R: ''You really think that I should go talk to her ?''  
  
J: ''You wanna fix things right ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, but........''  
  
J: ''Talk to her.''  
  
Rory smiled and nodded at him.  
  
R: ''Okay, I'll go talk to her.''  
  
She got up and wanted to pay him for the coffee, but Jess gave refused to take her money.  
  
R: ''Thank you.''  
  
She turned around and left the diner.  
  
At home Rory found her mom in the living room. She was on her knees in front of the couch and she was looking underneath the couch.  
  
R: ''Mom ?''  
  
L: ''Sweets ?''  
  
Lorelai stopped looking underneath the couch and looked up at Rory.  
  
R: ''What are you doing ?''  
  
L: ''I'm looking for something. Since when are you talking to me ?''  
  
R: ''Since now. What are you looking for ?''  
  
L: ''A pen. Why are you talking to me again ?''  
  
R: ''Cause I got some advice from Dean and Jess. What does the pen look like ?''  
  
L: ''You took advice from Jess ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, he told me to talk to you. Now about the pen.......''  
  
L: ''Forget about the pen. For once I'm glad that you listened to Jess.''  
  
R: ''There is no pen, is there ?''  
  
Lorelai got up and shook her head.  
  
L: ''No, I was just bored.''  
  
R: ''So you decided to stick your head underneath the couch ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
R: ''Why ?''  
  
L: ''I was hoping that I might find a thousand dollars in pennies.''  
  
R: ''No luck ?''  
  
L: ''No. So are you ready to talk about it now ?''  
  
R: ''No, but we have to talk some time.''  
  
L: ''Ignoring each other sucks, doesn't it ?''  
  
R: ''Kind of yeah.''  
  
L: ''So what do you wanna know ?''  
  
R: ''I wanna know why you didn't tell me ?''  
  
L: ''I..........I guess I was afraid.''  
  
R: ''Afraid ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, I was afraid that as soon as you would see your half sister you would leave me and move in with your dad and Sherry.''  
  
R: ''Mom.....I would never......''  
  
L: ''I know, but you know me........I panicked and........''  
  
R: ''Overreacted ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, but I'm really sorry. Please forgive me ?''  
  
R: ''Only if you promise that I can go and visit my half sister.''  
  
L: ''I promise.''  
  
R: ''Then consider yourself forgiven.''  
  
Lorelai smiled and hugged Rory.  
  
L: ''You're going to have to take the bus though.''  
  
R: ''Why ?''  
  
L: ''Cause I made a vow to myself that I would never set foot in Sherry's house again.''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
Rory smiled and hugged her mom again.  
  
After diner Rory decided to go for a walk. She ended up at the bridge. She always seemed to end up at the bridge when she went for a walk. She saw a figure sitting on the other end of the bridge. Rory smiled and started to walk towards it. She already knew who it was.  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Jess looked up and held back a smile when he saw her.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
Rory sat down next to him.  
  
R: ''I took your advice.''  
  
J: ''Did it work ?''  
  
R: ''Yep, things are okay between me and my mom again.''  
  
J: ''So does that mean that I'll have to start making more coffee again ?''  
  
Rory laughed.  
  
R: ''Probably, yeah.''  
  
J: ''I'll warn Luke when I see him.''  
  
R: ''Thanks.''  
  
J: ''For warning Luke ?''  
  
Rory met his eyes. He was looking at her with this intense look in his eyes. She started to blush and nodded.  
  
J: ''You're welcome. So how are things between you and Dean ? I mean I saw you two together at the diner.''  
  
R: ''Things are fine between us.''  
  
J: ''He sure had to leave quickly.''  
  
R: ''He had to get to work.''  
  
Rory didn't like to talk about Dean with Jess. That was one thing that they didn't have in common and she always had this feeling that Jess wanted her to fight with Dean.  
  
J: ''You don't like to talk to me about Dean, do you ?''  
  
Rory met his eyes. It was almost as if he read her mind.  
  
R: ''No, I don't.''  
  
J: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''It's just........uncomfortable.''  
  
Jess nodded and got up.  
  
J: ''Got it.''  
  
R: ''I didn't mean to.........''  
  
J: ''I know you didn't.''  
  
R: ''Then why are you leaving ?''  
  
J: ''Not because of you.''  
  
And with that he walked away, leaving Rory alone wondering if she would ever figure him out ? Suddenly her eye fell on a small piece of paper that was lying on the bridge. She picked it up and turned her head to see if Jess was still around, but he wasn't. She bit her lips and looked at the piece of paper again. Should she read it ? She played with the piece of paper for a while, but finally she made her mind up and unfolded the piece of paper. She started to read.  
  
~~~  
  
He jests at scars that never felt a wound  
  
But soft! What light through yonder window breaks ?  
  
It is the East, and Juliet is the sun!  
  
Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,  
  
Who is already sick and pale with grief  
  
That thou her maid art far more fair than she.  
  
Be not her maid, since she is envious.  
  
Her vestal livery is but sick and green,  
  
And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off.  
  
It is my lady; O, it is my love!  
  
O that she knew she were!  
  
She speak, yet she says nothing. What of that ?  
  
Her eye discourses; I will answer it.  
  
I am too bold; 'tis not to me she speaks.  
  
Two of the fairest stars in all heaven,  
  
Having some business, do entreat her eyes,  
  
To twinkle in their spheres till they return.  
  
What if her eyes where there, they in her head ?  
  
The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars  
  
As daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven  
  
Would through the airy region stream so bright  
  
That birds would sing and think it were not night.  
  
See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!  
  
O that I were a glove upon that hand,  
  
That I might touch that cheek!  
  
~~~  
  
Rory immediately recognized the words. I was out of Romeo and Juliet. This was the part where Romeo described his love for Juliet underneath her balcony. Rory looked at the piece of paper again. Did Jess leave it here on purpose ? Did he want her to find it ? Rory started to feel confused. If he did leave it here on purpose then what did he mean with it ? Could there maybe be a double meaning to these words ? She got up and folded up the piece of paper. She carefully put it in her pocket and went home with a smile on her face. 


	4. So, how long have you two been dating ?

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey everyone!!! It took a while for me to update this story, but I really wanted to finish SHATTERED first and I did. So now I can focus on this story 100%. I hope everyone likes this chapter, cause it took me ages to write. Please review and let me know if I should continue or not. Thanks.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
The next day Rory entered the diner feeling nervous. And the closer she got to the counter the more nervous she got. When she spotted Jess standing behind the counter, her hand automatically reached for the small piece of paper that she had neatly folded up and carefully placed in the pocket of her jeans. When she made sure that it was still there, she removed her hand from her pocket and held back a smile. Just the thought of the words that were written on that small piece of paper could bring a smile upon her face. Which was strange, cause she had read those words a million times before. It was one of her favorite scenes in Romeo and Juliet. But knowing that Jess had actually taken the time to write those same words down, changed the meaning of the entire scene. She started to wonder if he left it there on purpose ? Did he want her to find it ? Or had he left it there by accident ? She sat down at the counter and pushed the thoughts aside, but not too far. Just far enough so that she would be able to act normal around Jess. But she knew that during the rest of the day the thoughts would be there, in the back of her mind. Reminding her of Jess presence in her life and how it affected her. Because spending time with Jess did affect her in some way. She caught herself thinking of Jess when she was alone in her room or when she was near him. She would wonder about little things like why he was only nice to her or why he didn't like to talk about his feelings ? Rory shook her head. Why did she even care ? But when she caught Jess looking at her, she knew why she cared. She cared, because he was always there when she needed someone to talk to. Sure she could talk to her mom, but with Jess it was different. When she was talking to Jess it was as if he only had eyes for her. As if he was taking in every word that she was saying. He......just listened, no questions asked. He didn't expect anything from her. Besides she liked the way he looked at her when they were just talking or discussing books. He would always have half a smirk on his face and a soft look in his eyes, which were normally impossible to read. Rory smiled and looked at Jess. They held each other's gaze for a second and she wondered what other secrets he had hidden behind his bad boy appearance ? Did he really not care or was it just an act ?  
  
L: ''Morning Luke.''  
  
Luke: ''You're early.''  
  
L: ''Is that hello in your language ?''  
  
Luke: ''No, but you wanna hear goodbye in my language ?''  
  
L: ''Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed today.''  
  
Luke: ''I always get up on the same side of the bed Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''What are you saying Lukey ? Are you saying that it's me ?''  
  
Luke: ''No, I'm just saying that it isn't me.''  
  
L: ''Me neither. Maybe it's Rory ?''  
  
R: ''Actually my name's Lorelai too, so technically speaking it could be either one of us.''  
  
L: ''But we don't know which Lorelai he means.''  
  
Luke: ''The annoying one.''  
  
L: ''You mean Rory ? Cause it sure sounds like her.''  
  
Lorelai looked at Luke and nudged Rory with her elbow.  
  
L: ''I think he means you.''  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai, I mean you.''  
  
L: ''Which one ? Be more specific.''  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai......''  
  
L+R: ''Yes ?''  
  
Luke looked at them with an annoyed look on his face.  
  
L: ''Oooo he's made at you.''  
  
Luke: ''Would you both just quit it ?''  
  
L: ''Fine, spoil our fun.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, you're mean.''  
  
L: ''You just noticed ?''  
  
R: ''I'm low on coffee.''  
  
L: ''Speaking about coffee.........''  
  
Luke: ''No.''  
  
L: ''.......what about our coffee ?''  
  
Luke: ''No.''  
  
R: ''I think you have to ask it nicer.''  
  
L: ''Let me rephrase that, can we have some coffee ?''  
  
R: ''You forgot to say please.''  
  
L: ''Right, please ?''  
  
Luke: ''You're too early, I didn't make coffee yet.''  
  
L: ''Did he just say that he didn't make coffee yet ?''  
  
R: ''I think he did.''  
  
L: ''Okay, I'm just going to pretend that I didn't hear that and ask again.''  
  
Luke: ''Go ahead, but you're going to get the same answer.''  
  
L: ''Can't you just make some ?''  
  
Luke: ''I could, but I won't.''  
  
L: ''Why not ? I'll pay you.''  
  
Luke: ''You don't have enough money, trust me.''  
  
L: ''Please Luke ? Without coffee I'll die.''  
  
Luke: ''You won't die Lorelai. Just drink something else.''  
  
L: ''Drink something else ? I don't drink anything else.''  
  
Luke: ''Stop being so dramatic.''  
  
L: ''Fine, you don't believe me ? Just ask Rory.''  
  
R: ''What am I supposed to say ?''  
  
L: ''Tell him about the time that I died, because I didn't have coffee for an entire day.''  
  
R: ''Oh, right. Well, she didn't have coffee and she died.''  
  
L: ''That's it ?''  
  
R: ''What ?''  
  
L: ''You can write a hundred pages about something stupid like shoes, but you can't come up with a better story ?''  
  
R: ''Sorry. And I don't write about just shoes. I write about pink shoes.''  
  
L: ''Pink is out this season.''  
  
R: ''Yeah I know, but I'm trying to bring pink back again. I'm even holding speeches. Last week I visited the president to discuss it with him.''  
  
L: ''I didn't know the president wore pink shoes ?''  
  
R: ''Well, he does now.''  
  
Luke: ''How do you guys get from begging for coffee to talking about pink shoes ?''  
  
L: ''Well, first I told Rory that she can write a hundred pages about shoes, but she can't come up with a better coffee story for me.''  
  
R: ''And then I said that I didn't just write about.......''  
  
Luke: ''Please stop before I lose my mind.''  
  
L: ''You asked.''  
  
Luke: ''I'm sorry I did.''  
  
L: ''Now can we please have some coffee ?''  
  
Luke: ''No.''  
  
L: ''But Luke..........''  
  
Luke: ''No.''  
  
R: ''I don't think we're getting any coffee mom.''  
  
L: ''Yes we are, I have a different approach. Watch and learn.''  
  
R: ''Do I need to take notes ?''  
  
Lorelai ignored her and looked at Luke again.  
  
L: ''Have you been working out ?''  
  
Rory immediately started to laugh. She couldn't help it, that just sounded so wrong coming out of her mother's mouth.  
  
Jess had watched the entire scene with an amused look on his face. And without realizing it a small smile had crept onto his face. He looked at Rory who was still laughing. Jess' smile got bigger as he listened to her laughter. He couldn't believe that she got so much joy out of one comment.  
  
Luke slightly smiled, but quickly recovered.  
  
Luke: ''You're still not getting any.''  
  
L: ''Well, you do get right to the point, don't you ?''  
  
She winked at Luke and licked her lips in a seductive way.  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
Luke rolled his eyes and sighed. He finally gave in. He had to, if he didn't want to go through this the rest of the day.  
  
Luke: ''Fine, I'll go get some coffee from the back.''  
  
R: ''Thanks Luke.''  
  
Luke nodded at Rory and went in to the back. Great kid. Not that much different from her mother. Luke started to smile as he walked over to where he kept the coffee.  
  
Lorelai looked at Rory and smiled.  
  
L: ''I'm getting some.''  
  
Rory softly laughed.  
  
L: ''Are you getting some ?''  
  
R: ''Yep, I get some every day.''  
  
L: ''That's my girl.''  
  
R: ''We are still talking about coffee here, aren't we ?''  
  
L: ''What do you think ?''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes.  
  
R: ''That's disgusting.''  
  
L: ''I thought you liked coffee ?''  
  
R: ''Mom......''  
  
Luke came out of the back.  
  
L: ''Finally. What took you so long ?''  
  
Luke gave her a look and started to make coffee.  
  
L: ''I'm pushing my luck, aren't I ?''  
  
R: ''Just a little.''  
  
Suddenly Lorelai's cell phone went off. Luke turned around and pointed at the sign that said No Cell phones.  
  
L: ''Hello ? Oh, mom............hey. Yeah, hold on for a minute.''  
  
Lorelai removed the phone from her ear and looked at Luke.  
  
L: ''What are you doing ?''  
  
Luke: ''Can't you read ?''  
  
L: ''Read what ?''  
  
Luke: ''The sign.''  
  
L: ''What sign ?''  
  
Luke looked at her with an impatient look on his face.  
  
R: ''I think he's talking about that sign over there. The one that says No Cell phones.''  
  
L: ''Oh, you were pointing at the sign. I thought you were trying to zap something with your finger.''  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''Don't worry, I'm going outside. And when I get back the coffee better be ready.''  
  
Lorelai put the phone back to her ear and went outside to continue her conversation with her mom.  
  
R: ''Hey Luke.''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah ?''  
  
R: ''Can I have some coffee ? Please ?''  
  
Luke: ''Sure.''  
  
He got one of his biggest cups and filled it with coffee. Then he turned around and put it down in front of Rory.  
  
R: ''Thank you.''  
  
Luke: ''You're welcome kid. So, how are things at school ? Still getting good grades ?''  
  
R: ''Straight A's.''  
  
Luke: ''Good, and how about books ? Are you still reading a lot ?''  
  
R: ''Even more.''  
  
Luke: ''Good, that's good....... Well, I better get to work.''  
  
R: ''Okay.''  
  
Luke went in to the back again and Rory was left alone with Jess. She took a sip of her coffee and pretended that she didn't care.  
  
J: ''Straight A's huh ?''  
  
R: ''A+'s actually.''  
  
Jess moved closer until he was standing right in front of her.  
  
J: ''Well, aren't we the little bookworm.''  
  
R: ''Yep and proud of it.''  
  
She took another sip of her coffee and looked up at Jess. He was looking at her with an amused look in his eyes. Rory met his eyes for a second, but forced herself to look away.  
  
R: ''Jess.......''  
  
J: ''Yes ?''  
  
Realizing that it rimed Rory smiled.  
  
R: ''I have something for you.''  
  
She put her coffee down and got the piece of paper out of her pocket.  
  
R: ''I found it at the bridge yesterday, I think you dropped it or something.''  
  
She handed it to Jess, but he didn't make any attempt to reach for it.  
  
R: ''It is yours, right ?''  
  
J: ''Yep, but I didn't lose it.''  
  
They locked eyes for a moment and Rory wondered what he meant by that ? Did this mean that he had left it there on purpose ? The door of the diner opened and her mom came in. Rory quickly put the piece of paper back in her pocket and grabbed her coffee again.  
  
R: ''Hey mom.''  
  
L: ''Hey, where's Luke and where is my coffee ?''  
  
R: ''In the back and apparently not here.''  
  
L: ''Thanks for the update. Jess, can you please get me some coffee ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah.''  
  
He turned around and started to fill a cup with coffee.  
  
L: ''So, guess what we are doing tomorrow night ?''  
  
R: ''We're going skydiving ?''  
  
L: ''Nope.''  
  
R: ''Then I honestly don't have a clue.''  
  
Jess handed Lorelai a cup of coffee.  
  
L: ''Thanks, you're a lifesaver.''  
  
J: ''The candy ?''  
  
L: ''No, you don't really look like the candy. Does he ?''  
  
R: ''Maybe if he colored his hair in the same color as his clothes.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, I vote for red. What about you ?''  
  
R: ''Red works for me.''  
  
L: ''For me too. What about you Jess ? Does red work for you ?''  
  
J: ''Sorry, but red doesn't really do anything for me.''  
  
L: ''You're more of a green lifesaver ?''  
  
J: ''Yep, you figured it out.''  
  
R: ''So, now that we know Jess' big secret, can you please tell me what we're doing tomorrow night ?''  
  
Jess got out his book and opened it. But even though he was reading Rory was on his mind. He smirked at the memory of the look on her face when he told her that he didn't lose the piece of paper. He wondered how long it would take her to figure it out ? How long would it take her to figure out his big secret ?  
  
L: ''We're having dinner tomorrow with my parents.''  
  
R: ''We always have dinner with them on Friday.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, but this time the rules kind of changed.''  
  
R: ''We have rules.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, real good ones, but my mom decided to change them.''  
  
R: ''Change them how ? We have to take turns passing the salt ?''  
  
L: ''I wish, no. We have to bring dates.''  
  
R: ''Dates ? We have to bring dates to the dinner tomorrow night ?''  
  
L: ''That's what she said.''  
  
R: ''Why ?''  
  
L: ''Something about getting to know them better and she said that it would be nice to have some new faces at the table.''  
  
R: ''Well, I have Dean, but who are you going to go with ?''  
  
L: ''I don't know.''  
  
As soon as Luke came out of the back a smile appeared on Lorelai's face.  
  
L: ''Luke, can I ask you something ?''  
  
Luke: ''Do you have to ?''  
  
L: ''Please ?''  
  
Luke: ''Fine, make it quick.''  
  
L: ''Will you go out with me ?''  
  
Luke: ''Excuse me ?''  
  
L: ''You heard me, will you go out with me ? We can get to know each other better and stuff. Please ?''  
  
Luke: ''Are you on drugs ?''  
  
L: ''No, I want you to go to dinner with me.''  
  
R: ''Ask her where.''  
  
Luke: ''Where ?''  
  
L: ''Trader.''  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai, where ?''  
  
L: ''At my parent's house.''  
  
J: ''How romantic.''  
  
Luke: ''Jess.''  
  
L: ''Please come with me ?''  
  
Luke: ''And meet your parents ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
Luke: ''I actually have to talk to them ?''  
  
R: ''Probably.''  
  
L: ''But mostly they are just going to ask you questions.''  
  
Luke: ''About what ?''  
  
R: ''School, your boyfriend.''  
  
J: ''I knew you were hiding something uncle Luke.''  
  
L: ''You two are not exactly helping.''  
  
R: ''Sorry.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, sorry.''  
  
L: ''Please ? All you have to do is eat dinner and answer a few questions about work and stuff.''  
  
Luke: ''Why me ?''  
  
L: ''Cause I don't have other guys that are my friend.''  
  
R: ''She just doesn't have a boyfriend.''  
  
Luke: ''Let's say I go with you, will your parents think that we're involved ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
Luke: ''I don't know Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''Please ? I you don't go with me I have to show up without a date and that would be humiliating.''  
  
Luke: ''It's just for one night ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
Luke: ''Okay, I'll go with you.''  
  
L: ''Great. And one more thing......''  
  
Luke: ''There's always one more thing.''  
  
L: ''Don't forget to dress up.''  
  
Luke: ''Dress up ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, you know. A blouse, nice pants and no cap.''  
  
Jess stifled a laugh.  
  
J: ''I can't wait to see you all dressed up uncle Luke.''  
  
Luke looked from Lorelai to Jess and back again.  
  
Luke: ''Do you mind if Jess joins us ?''  
  
J: ''What ?''  
  
L: ''No.''  
  
Luke: ''Looks like you have to dress up too Jess.''  
  
Luke smiled at Jess and went back to work.  
  
J: ''Don't I have a say in this ?''  
  
Luke: ''No, now get to work.''  
  
Jess mumbled something and started to take the chairs of the tables.  
  
L: ''My parents are so going to love this. I can't wait until dinner tomorrow. This is going to be fun.''  
  
R: ''Loads.''  
  
L: ''What's wrong sweets ?''  
  
R: ''You forgot about one little thing.''  
  
L: ''Impossible.''  
  
R: ''Remember Dean, my boyfriend ? The guy who's probably going to dinner with me tomorrow ? He and Jess don't exactly get along.''  
  
L: ''I know, maybe they'll start a fight an ruin the entire dinner ?''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''I'm sure it's not that bad. Now, I have to go to the Inn.''  
  
Lorelai quickly finished her coffee and got up to put her jacket on.  
  
L: ''Have fun and don't worry too much okay ? Everything's going to be fine.''  
  
She gave Rory a kiss on her cheek and left for work. Rory took one last sip of her coffee and checked her watch. She had to get to school. She got up and grabbed her bag. She headed for the door. When she reached it Jess opened it for her.  
  
R: ''Thanks.''  
  
J: ''No problem.''  
  
Rory wanted to leave, but Jess stopped her.  
  
J: ''Hey Rory...........''  
  
She turned around and looked at him.  
  
R: ''Yeah ?''  
  
J: ''Don't worry about tonight. I promise I'll behave.''  
  
R: ''You better, bye.''  
  
J: ''See ya.''  
  
He closed the door and watched Rory until she was out of sight.  
  
That night Rory entered the diner with a sad look on her face. She walked towards her mom who was sitting at a table in the middle of the diner.  
  
L: ''Hey sweets.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
L: ''How was your day ?''  
  
R: ''Horrible.''  
  
L: ''What happened ?''  
  
R: ''Dean can't go to dinner with us.''  
  
L: ''Why not ?''  
  
R: ''It's Clara's birthday Friday and they're throwing her a party.''  
  
L: ''I'm sorry. But at least he's not going out with another girl.''  
  
R: ''Is that supposed to make me feel better ?''  
  
At that moment Lane came in to the diner. As soon as she spotted Rory and Lorelai she made her way over to them.  
  
Lane: ''Hey. Wow, what's with the sad look ?''  
  
L: ''Dean can't go to dinner with her.''  
  
Lane: ''Since when are you two going to dinner ?''  
  
Lane sat down and grabbed a frie from Lorelai's plate.  
  
L: ''Since my parents asked us to bring dates to the usual Friday night dinner.''  
  
Lane: ''You have to bring dates ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
Lane: ''Does the date have to be a guy ?''  
  
L: ''My mom didn't say, why ?''  
  
Lane: ''Well, I'm still available for tomorrow night.''  
  
R: ''That's a great idea Lane.''  
  
L: ''Did I miss something ?''  
  
R: ''Lane can be my date.''  
  
L: ''Excuse me ?''  
  
R: ''Grandma didn't say that the date had to be a guy right ?''  
  
L: ''Right, that's a great idea.''  
  
R: ''I thought so too. Thanks Lane.''  
  
Lane: ''No problem.''  
  
L: ''So how long have you two been dating ?''  
  
Rory and Lane both rolled her eyes. Lorelai smiled and got up.  
  
L: ''I'm going to get some more coffee.''  
  
Lane: ''So who is your mom going with ?''  
  
R: ''Luke.''  
  
Lane: ''Kidding right ?''  
  
R: ''Nope. And you know who's coming too ?''  
  
Lane shook her head. Rory smiled and pointed at Jess.  
  
Lane: ''Jess ?''  
  
R: ''Yep.''  
  
Lane: ''Can it get any worse ?''  
  
R: ''We have to dress up.''  
  
Lane: ''Great, just great. It's going to be some night.''  
  
Rory met Jess' eyes. Jess winked at her and Rory started to blush.  
  
R: ''It sure is.'' 


	5. Snow White quoting Shakespeare

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! Okay this is probably the last time I will be able to update this week. I have a couple of tests this week, so the next update will probably be on Friday. Maybe sooner. But that depends if I find the time to write. Anyway I hope you all like this chapter. I worked really hard on it and I spend almost an entire day on it, because I really wanted to update one last time. So please review and let me know what you think and if you want me to continue. Thanks and thanks for the reviews I got on the last chapter. LOVED THEM!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
On Friday night Lane came over to the Gilmore's house so that she and Rory could get ready together. The two girls had finished almost an hour ago and were now sitting on the couch, watching some old movie, while they were waiting for Luke and Jess to arrive. Because Luke didn't know where Lorelai's parents lived they had decided to share a car. While the two girls had finished getting ready about an hour ago, Lorelai was still in her room, trying on outfits and putting on make-up. Which was weird, cause normally it took her only 15 minutes or so to get ready for dinner at her mom and dad's. Rory checked her watch again. Luke and Jess would be arriving any minute now and her mom still wasn't ready yet. Rory smiled. She had a feeling that Luke was the reason why her mom wasn't dressed and ready to go yet. Suddenly the doorbell rang and she got up to answer it. When she opened the door she couldn't believe her eyes. Luke was actually wearing a pair of black pants, a blue blouse and.........a black baseball cap. Rory smiled when she saw the cap and wondered how her mother would react.  
  
R: ''Hey, come in. Mom's almost ready, I think.''  
  
Luke: ''She better be. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can leave again.''  
  
Rory took a step aside to let Luke pass. Then she finally noticed Jess. She couldn't help but smile when she saw him and the way he was dressed. A pair of black jeans, a black shirt with long sleeves and white sneakers. Yep, that was Jess alright. She never expected him to really dress up anyway.  
  
R: ''Hey Jess.''  
  
J: ''Rory.''  
  
Jess looked at Rory and couldn't believe how beautiful she looked. The red dress that she was wearing showed of her slender figure that she normally covered up with jeans and oversized sweatshirts. He shifted his eyes from her body to her face. He almost smiled when he saw that she was even wearing make-up. Not a lot, but just enough to accent her gorgeous face. Then he looked up and met her eyes.  
  
J: ''You look nice.''  
  
She started to blush slightly and quickly lowered her eyes.  
  
R: ''Thanks, come in.''  
  
Jess smirked when he saw how uncomfortable she was and entered the house. Rory closed the door and turned around to face him.  
  
J: ''So, where's your boyfriend ?''  
  
R: ''He couldn't come.''  
  
J: ''How come ?''  
  
R: ''It's Clara's birthday today and they're throwing her a party.''  
  
J: ''Sounds fun.''  
  
R: ''Jess........''  
  
J: ''What ? I was just saying that it sounded fun.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, but you said it with sarcasm and whenever you're saying something with even a hint of sarcasm in your voice, you're mocking someone or something or you're trying to prove a point.''  
  
J: ''Ah, but which am I doing right now ?''  
  
R: ''Mocking.''  
  
J: ''Well, guess you have me figured out then.''  
  
R: ''Not quite.''  
  
They locked eyes and held each other's gaze until Lane suddenly appeared.  
  
Lane: ''I thought I heard voices.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, but you always hear voices.''  
  
Lane: ''I think I like you better when you don't talk at all.''  
  
J: ''Same here. What are you doing here anyway ?''  
  
R: ''Lane's my date.''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah, she dumped Dean for me.''  
  
J: ''Really ?''  
  
Lane: ''Course not. Are you crazy ?''  
  
J: ''Apparently not as crazy as you.''  
  
Lane took a step towards him and gave him a look.  
  
R: ''He meant that in a good way.''  
  
J: ''I did ?''  
  
Lane: ''If he somehow disappeared, do you think people would miss him ?''  
  
Rory grabbed Lane's arm and pulled her back.  
  
R: ''Okay, please try to get along ?''  
  
Lane: ''Do I have another option ?''  
  
R: ''Don't speak at all ?''  
  
J: Somehow that works for me.''  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
Lane: ''I'm not sitting next to him in the car.''  
  
Then Lorelai and Luke came in.  
  
L: ''Everything alright ?''  
  
R: ''Lane's not sitting next to Jess in the car.''  
  
L: ''You two are not getting along ?''  
  
J: ''Nope.''  
  
L: ''That's great, my parents will so like that.''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''What ?''  
  
R: ''There's definitely something wrong with you.''  
  
Luke: ''I agree.''  
  
L: ''Nothing is wrong with me.''  
  
Luke: ''Wanna take a vote on that ?''  
  
L: ''I just wanna make sure that my parents will never forget this night.''  
  
R: ''They won't.''  
  
*~*~*  
  
When they reached Richard and Emily's house, Rory was glad that she could get out of the car. She didn't think that she could take another minute sitting so close to Jess without touching him. Rory immediately felt guilty for thinking that. Jess was just a friend and he could never replace Dean. But apparently he could replace her thoughts of Dean. She started to walk in the direction of the door, wondering what was wrong with her ? While her mom rang the doorbell, she silently waited for her Grandma to answer. She glanced at Jess. When he saw that she was looking at him, he met her gaze. Finally Rory looked away, knowing that Jess would be on her mind for the rest of the evening. And him being here was only making it harder.  
  
Luke: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''Yes uncle Luke ?''  
  
Luke: ''Be on your best behavior.''  
  
J: ''Or what ? I don't get desert ?''  
  
Luke sighed and shook his head. Rory moved a little closer to him.  
  
R: ''You promised.''  
  
Jess glanced at Rory and remembered what he had told her the day before. He promised her that he would be on his best behavior tonight.  
  
R: ''And you can never break a promise.''  
  
She met his eyes, her eyes shining just as bright as the stars above and smiled a sweet smile at him. Actually everything about her was sweet. He shifted his eyes from her eyes to her lips that were painted in a bright red that made him think of a well known fairy-tale. She reminded him of Snow White, with her light skin tone and red lips. Jess stifled a laugh. If she only knew what he was thinking right now......... He met her eyes again and tried to read them. He wanted to know what was on her mind right now. Was she thinking of Dean ? Jess turned his eyes away from her and looked at the closed door a couple of feet away from him. Of course she was thinking of Dean, he was her boyfriend after all. He didn't deserve her, but he was her boyfriend. And with her having a boyfriend he didn't think that he had a chance with her. She wouldn't let him have a chance with her, or would she ?  
  
Then the door opened and they were greeted by Emily Gilmore. Well, greeted was a big word. She let them in anyway.  
  
E: ''You're late.''  
  
L: ''I'm not late.''  
  
E: ''Yes, you are. You're ten minutes late.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, well we're here now.''  
  
Emily crossed her arms and nodded.  
  
E: ''Right, but try to be on time next time. Now, give your jackets to the gentleman over there and follow me to the dinning room. We can exchange names there.''  
  
Luke: ''This is going to be fun.''  
  
Lorelai gave him a look and immediately Luke shut up. They all gave their jackets to the gentleman who was standing next to the door and followed Emily to the dinning room. Richard was already sitting at the head of the table, reading his newspaper. When he heard them come in, he folded his paper up and smiled at them.  
  
Richard: ''Hello everyone.''  
  
R: ''Hey Grandpa.''  
  
Rory walked over to Richard and quickly hugged him.  
  
L: ''Hey dad, what's shaking ?''  
  
Richard: ''Excuse me ?''  
  
E: ''It's just a saying Richard. What she means is, how are you doing ?''  
  
Richard: ''Oh, fine, thank you. How about you dear ?''  
  
L: ''Same old same old.''  
  
Lorelai and Rory sat down at their regular spots at the table.  
  
Richard: ''Who are these new faces ?''  
  
R: ''Oh that's Lane, my friend, but she's my date for tonight.''  
  
E: ''What ?''  
  
L: ''Relax mom. Dean couldn't come, so she brought Lane along.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, I hope that's okay.''  
  
Richard: ''Of course it is. Nice to meet you Lane. And who are you two ?''  
  
R: ''That's Luke.''  
  
L: ''My date.''  
  
E: ''Luke from Luke's diner ?''  
  
Luke: ''That's me.''  
  
R: ''And that's Jess, his nephew.''  
  
Lane: ''His very annoying nephew.''  
  
Rory held back a smile and signaled for Lane to site down next to her.  
  
Richard: ''Well, it's nice to meet you all. Please sit down.''  
  
Luke and Jess sat down across from the three girls. Emily sat down next to Luke and clapped her hands. Almost immediately a waiter appeared.  
  
E: ''Everyone, this is Pierre my new waiter.''  
  
Richard: ''From France.''  
  
E: ''Pierre, we're ready for dinner.''  
  
Lane: ''And I'm ready for Pierre.''  
  
Rory softly laughed and shook her head. Yep, that was Lane, boycrazy. It didn't matter what they were like. As long as they looked good she would flirt with them. When Pierre and two other waiters came to serve dinner Lane nudged Rory with her elbow.  
  
Lane: ''You never told me that your Grandma had waiters that looked this cute.''  
  
R: ''That's because I didn't know.''  
  
When Pierre and the other waiters left the room Lane whistled. Both Rory and Lorelai started to laugh. When Emily have them a look they immediately stopped.  
  
E: ''Lorelai, you should really teach Rory better manors.''  
  
R: ''I agree with Grandma.''  
  
Lane: ''Rory, you're not supposed to talk during dinner.''  
  
R: ''See mom, I did not know that. And it's all your fault.''  
  
L: ''I didn't even know that.''  
  
Lane and Rory smiled.  
  
Richard: ''Girls.''  
  
R: ''Sorry Grandpa.''  
  
E: ''Well, as they say in French bon appetite.''  
  
Lorelai looked at her plate. She made a face and looked up again. She nudged Rory with her elbow.  
  
L: ''Do you think that we can skip dinner and go straight to desert ?''  
  
R: ''I hope so. There are way too many vegetables on my plate.''  
  
L: ''O my God, what is Lane doing ?''  
  
Rory turned her head to look at Lane.  
  
R: ''Lane, what are you doing ?''  
  
Lane took another bite and quickly swallowed when she saw the looks on Lorelai and Rory's face.  
  
Lane: ''What ?''  
  
L: ''How can you eat vegetables ?''  
  
Lane: ''My mom.''  
  
L: ''Oh, right. I understand.''  
  
R: ''Poor Lane.''  
  
Rory looked around the table and saw the way Jess and Luke were both playing with their food. She smiled.  
  
R: ''Poor Luke and Jess.''  
  
L: ''Poor us.''  
  
Lorelai looked at her plate again.  
  
L: ''Mom ?''  
  
E: ''Yes Lorelai ?''  
  
L: ''Can we maybe skip dinner ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, I'm not that hungry.''  
  
E: ''Don't be silly, you're a growing girl Rory.''  
  
L: ''Please ?''  
  
E: ''Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''Is that a yes ?''  
  
E: ''No, now eat your food.''  
  
Richard: ''It's delicious.''  
  
E: ''Why thank you Richard.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, real delicious.''  
  
R: ''I think I'm gonna be sick.''  
  
L: ''Hey, slip Lane some of our food.''  
  
R: ''Good idea.''  
  
She grabbed her plate and started to put some of her vegetables on Lane's plate. Lane looked up.  
  
Lane: ''What are you doing ?''  
  
R: ''What does it look like ?''  
  
L: ''This is taking too long.''  
  
Lorelai grabbed her own plate and just emptied it on Lane's plate.  
  
R: ''Bon appetite.''  
  
Then the three girls started to laugh. Rory covered her face and tried to stop laughing, but it was no use. Everyone at the table stopped eating and looked in their direction.  
  
E: ''What are you doing ?''  
  
R: ''Eh......we're..........''  
  
L: ''Praying.''  
  
E: ''Praying ? You never prayed before.''  
  
R: ''Yeah well.........''  
  
L: ''You know, Lane has to pray.''  
  
R: ''Right.''  
  
Lane: ''I do ?''  
  
L: ''Yes, you do.''  
  
Lane: ''Right, I....eh......forgot.''  
  
L: ''That's bad.''  
  
R: ''Really bad.''  
  
Lane: ''I know, I better finish praying.''  
  
Lane got up and got down on her knees in front of the table. She folded her hands and closed her eyes. Rory bit her bottom lip to keep from laughing and Lorelai just looked at Lane with a smile on her face. Even Jess and Luke had an amused look on their face.  
  
Lane: ''Amen.''  
  
Then Lane got up and sat down at the table again. She started to eat her dinner again, keeping a straight face the entire time.  
  
*~*~*  
  
After desert Lorelai decided that it was time to go home. Lane was the first one to get up and get her jacket. When everyone had put on their jacket, they said goodbye to Richard and Emily and left. In the car Rory and Lorelai burst out laughing.  
  
L: ''O my God it was horrible, it was great.''  
  
R: ''The food was awful.''  
  
L: ''I have never seen so many vegetables at once before.''  
  
R: ''Me neither. And I can't believe you actually ate three plates of vegetables.''  
  
Lane shrugged.  
  
Lane: ''I'm used to them and besides I like vegetables.''  
  
R: ''I so have to get myself a new best friend. One who doesn't like vegetables.''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah, but then who would eat your vegetables for you ?''  
  
R: ''Good point, I think I'll just stick with you.''  
  
Lane: ''Honored.''  
  
R: ''You should be.''  
  
L: ''Hey Luke, when we get to Stars Hollow can you please make us some coffee ?''  
  
Luke sighed and nodded. It was no use arguing with her anyway.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Lorelai parked her car in front of Luke's and got out. The rest did too.  
  
Lane: ''I have to get home.''  
  
R: ''Okay, see you tomorrow.''  
  
Lane: ''Definitely.''  
  
Lane turned around to go home, but stopped and turned around again.  
  
Lane: ''Hey Ror.''  
  
R: ''Yeah ?''  
  
Lane: ''I got Pierre's phone number.''  
  
R: ''Kidding right ?''  
  
Lane shook her head and held up a piece of paper with a phone number on it.  
  
R: ''Lane, you didn't.''  
  
Lane: ''Hey, he was cute. Night.''  
  
R: ''Night.''  
  
Rory shook her head and went into the diner. Luke gave her a cup of coffee and Rory gratefully took it. She looked around the place looking for Jess, but she didn't see him anywhere.  
  
R: ''Luke.''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah ?''  
  
R: ''Where's Jess ?''  
  
Luke shrugged.  
  
Luke: ''Probably 'out'.''  
  
Luke went back to arguing slash flirting with her mom. Rory quickly finished her coffee and left the diner without the two of them noticing.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rory spotted Jess sitting at the end of the bridge and made her way over to him. She sat down next to him and quickly glanced at him.  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
J: ''If it isn't fair Juliet.''  
  
Rory blushed. Why did he always have to make comments like that ? Especially this one. It reminded her of the piece of paper that Jess 'lost' at the bridge.  
  
R: ''What are you doing here anyway ?''  
  
J: ''I just had to get away from everyone for a minute.''  
  
R: ''Oh......I can leave if you want to.''  
  
She started to get up, but Jess gently grabbed her hand and stopped her.  
  
J: ''You don't have to.''  
  
R: ''Are you sure ?''  
  
J: ''Positive.''  
  
They locked eyes for a moment. Realizing that Jess' hand was still on hers, Rory smiled and sat back down.  
  
J: ''What about you ?''  
  
Rory shrugged and wanted to say that she didn't know, but then she remembered why she came here. She came here to give him something.  
  
R: ''Actually I wanted to give you something.''  
  
She got a piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it to Jess. Jess removed his hand from Rory's and took the piece of paper from her. He unfolded it and started to read. Rory quietly watched him as he read her note. She wondered what he would think of it ?  
  
~~~  
  
Well, do not swear. Although I joy in thee,  
  
I have no joy of this contract to-night.  
  
It is too rash, too unadvis'd, too sudden;  
  
Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be  
  
Ere one can say 'It lightens.' Sweet, good night!  
  
This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath,  
  
May prove a beauteous flow'r when next we meet.  
  
Good night, good night! As sweet repose and rest  
  
Come to thy heart as that within my breast!  
  
~~~  
  
Jess read it over once more before he folded it up. He turned his head a little and looked at Rory.  
  
J: ''O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied ?''  
  
Rory seemed surprised by his response, but quickly recovered.  
  
R: ''What satisfaction canst thou have to-night ?''  
  
Knowing which words would come next, she got up and started to walk away from Jess.  
  
R: ''Night Jess.''  
  
Jess watched her leave for once not knowing what to say. 


	6. All eyes on you

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! It's been a while since I updated and I'm so sorry for that. But I was kind of busy with school. They decided to put a few more tests in at the last moment. Anyway here's the next chapter. It concentrates on Rory's relationship with Dean and her relationship with Jess. Thanks for the reviews and I hope you guys like this chapter enough to do the same. O and the next chapter will include some R/J action. ;-)  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory took another sip of her coffee and looked up at her best friend who had just arrived at Luke's.  
  
R: ''So, how are things going between you and Pierre ?''  
  
Lane: ''Actually they're not. I called him up to ask him out on a date......''  
  
R: ''You actually called him ?''  
  
Lane: ''Of course, he was cute.''  
  
R: ''Was ?''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah, I decided that he just wasn't my type of guy.''  
  
R: ''Because of the age difference ?''  
  
Lane: ''No, because I didn't understand a single word that he said to me on the phone. He started to say some things to me in French and I just hung up on him.''  
  
R: ''You hung up on him ?''  
  
Lane: ''Didn't you just hear me say that ?''  
  
R: ''Well, yeah, but couldn't you have gotten a dictionary or something ?''  
  
Lane: ''And translate like a hundred words at once ?''  
  
R: ''Right, I see your point.''  
  
Rory smiled and grabbed her coffee again. When she was just about to take a sip, she saw Jess come downstairs. She followed him with her eyes, hoping that he wouldn't all of a sudden turn around and catch her looking at him.  
  
Lane: ''It weren't exactly a hundred words, you know ? It were more like ninety-nine.''  
  
Rory could hear Lane talking, but she wasn't paying any attention to the words that she was saying. All her attention was on Jess right now, the rest of the world would just have to wait. Rory knew that she should stop doing this. She had to stop thinking and fantasizing about Jess. He even made an appearance in one of her daydreams today and she knew that it was wrong. Dean should be the one on her mind the entire day, but the fact was.........that he wasn't. Not anymore anyway. He had been replaced by Jess. When she would close her eyes she could see every line of his face. The way his smile was always a little crooked, the dimple he always had in his cheek when he smiled, the way his hair slightly curled and the amazing shade of brown of his eyes. She had memorized them. Afraid that one day when she woke up he would be gone, leaving her with nothing more than a memory. Now she could be sure that wherever she was, all she had to do was close her eyes and he would be there.  
  
Lane: ''Rory ?''  
  
Rory still didn't look up. She heard Lane saying her name, but she refused to look up. She wasn't ready to wake up out of her daydream yet. There was still so many of Jess to 'discover'. She shifted her eyes from the back of his head to the book that he was carrying in his back pocket. He always seemed to carry a book with him and a pen too. Every time she saw him writing something down in one of his books, she couldn't help but wonder what he was writing about. Was he writing about how much he hated it here ? Or was he writing something else down ? Poetry, stories, what ?  
  
Lane: ''Rory.''  
  
Lane snapped her fingers in front of Rory's face and finally she returned her gaze to Lane. Realizing that she was still holding her cup of coffee only inches away from her lips she quickly took a sip.  
  
Lane: ''What was up with that ?''  
  
R: ''What do you mean ?''  
  
Lane gave her a look and nodded in Jess' direction.  
  
Lane: ''I'm talking about you only having eyes for Luke's nephew over there.''  
  
Rory sighed. She never had been any good at lying and besides Lane always saw right through her anyway. She put her coffee down and got a neatly folded piece of paper out of her pocket. For some reason she had carried it with her ever since Jess gave it to her. She didn't really know why, maybe because now she had prove that Jess wasn't as emotionless as some of the people in town thought. He did have feelings, he just expressed them in a different way. In a way that showed her that there was more to him than just his sarcasm and careless attitude. What if underneath all the layers that he had covered himself with for his own protection, could easily be peeled off one by one ? Rory believed that it was possible. If he met the right person he would open up and let his great personality show that she knew he had. Maybe she was that person ? She wanted to be that person. She wanted to be that person really bad and she could care less about what Dean and the rest of the town would think of it. Rory handed the piece of paper to Lane and patiently waited until she had finished reading. When Lane finished reading it she looked at Rory with a smile on her face.  
  
Lane: ''The boy has got it bad.''  
  
R: ''No he doesn't. It's just a silly note.''  
  
Lane: ''Did you ever wonder why he wrote it ?''  
  
Rory didn't answer and took the piece of paper from Lane. She let her eyes rest on the piece of paper once again. She knew every word by heart.  
  
R: ''It's just a scene from Romeo and Juliet.''  
  
Lane: ''Why do you think he chose that particular part ?''  
  
Rory shrugged and put the piece of paper in her pocket again, hidden from everyone else. She didn't wanna think about why Jess might have chosen that particular part. She shouldn't think of that. She shouldn't look for a reason when she knew that it probably wasn't going to be there. Then the door of the diner opened and her boyfriend came in. And even if there was a reason, it wouldn't change anything. There was still Dean and she couldn't just close her eyes and wish him away. She smiled at Dean as he approached her and Lane.  
  
D: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Dean leaned over the table and wanted to kiss her on the lips, but Rory slightly turned her head so that his kiss ended up on the corner of her mouth. Apparently Dean didn't notice or he was pretending that he didn't notice, cause he sat down next to her with one arm around her shoulders.  
  
D: ''So, what are you two up to ?''  
  
R: ''Nothing.''  
  
Lane: ''Rory got a letter.''  
  
D: ''What ?''  
  
Rory shot Lane a warning look.  
  
R: ''Not important. How was Clara's party ?''  
  
D: ''Great. She had a good time unpacking presents and eating cake. And after her third piece of cake she fell asleep on the couch.''  
  
R: ''Wish her a happy birthday for me when you get home.''  
  
D: ''I will. So, how was dinner ?''  
  
R: ''It was fine.''  
  
Lane: ''It was horrible. I mean.......''  
  
D: ''You were there ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, she ended up being my date.''  
  
Lane: ''Don't worry Dean it was just a one night thing, nothing to be jealous about.''  
  
D: ''Good, cause I was worried. Did anything fun happen ?''  
  
R: ''Lane got the phone number of one of my Grandma's waiters.''  
  
Lane: ''Yeah, but he only spoke French, so.........''  
  
D: ''It didn't work out ?''  
  
Lane: ''Nope.''  
  
D: ''So everything went okay ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
Lane: ''Except for the whole Jess being there part. Me and him just couldn't get along and I just said something that I wasn't supposed to say, didn't I ?''  
  
D: ''I didn't know Jess was joining you for dinner.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, Luke agreed to be my mom's date and he decided to bring Jess along to annoy him.''  
  
Dean removed his arm from her shoulder and turned his head to look at her.  
  
D: ''How come you didn't tell me ?''  
  
R: ''I.......I forgot.''  
  
D: ''You forgot ? It just slipped your mind that Jess was joining you for dinner ?''  
  
R: ''...........no.''  
  
D: ''Then why didn't you tell me ?!''  
  
R: ''Dean, please don't make such a big deal out of this. It was just dinner and besides Lane was my so called date.''  
  
D: ''That's not the point. You should have told me. That's what honesty is all about.''  
  
R: ''I know that Dean.''  
  
D: ''Then why didn't you tell me ?!''  
  
R: ''Cause I knew that you would react this way. Blow things out of proportion. Jess isn't that bad you know and yes I should have told you, but you should have just trusted me.''  
  
D: ''I do trust you, it's him that I don't trust.''  
  
Jess watched them fight with his fists clenched. Every muscle in his body was tensed and he was ready to step in if he had to. One more wrong word out of Dean's mouth and he would step in. He didn't care if he would get into a fight with Dean. He had no right to yell at Rory like that. If he wanted to discuss something with Rory he should try talking to her. He was just about to walk over to Dean to make his point clear, when Luke came in. He looked at the fighting couple and walked over to them.  
  
Luke: ''What's going on ?''  
  
D: ''Just ask Jess.''  
  
Dean shot Jess an angry look and left the diner.  
  
Luke watched Dean leave and looked at Rory again with a concerned look on his face.  
  
Luke: ''Are you okay ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, I'm sorry.''  
  
Rory met Jess' eyes. When he saw the worried look in his eyes she wondered is he really was worried or if it was all an act ? His eyes were supposed to be unreadable, he was supposed to be unreadable. Rory quickly got up and left the diner confused. She would go to the bridge, but Jess would probably follow her and that wasn't what she wanted right now. So instead she went home.  
  
When Rory entered the kitchen her mom was on the phone. Lorelai smiled at her, but as soon as she saw the look on Rory's face it disappeared again. She said goodbye to the person on the other end of the line and hung up.  
  
L: ''Hey sweets. What's wrong ?''  
  
R: ''Me and Dean had a fight.''  
  
L: ''A fight ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, right in the middle of Luke's with everyone watching.''  
  
L: ''Why were you two fighting ?''  
  
R: ''Because of Jess.''  
  
L: ''Jess ?''  
  
R: ''I didn't tell Dean that Jess joined us at dinner last night and he got mad at me. He said I wasn't being honest with him.''  
  
L: ''Well, were you ? Being honest with him ?''  
  
R: ''No, but I had a good reason for not telling him.''  
  
L: ''You do ?''  
  
R: ''No. It's just I knew that he would get mad at me if I told him that Jess was coming to dinner with us.''  
  
L: ''And he isn't mad now ?''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''Sweetie, he'll come around.''  
  
R: ''Do you really think so ?''  
  
L: ''It's Dean we're talking about, the most caring person I know.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, you're probably right.''  
  
L: ''I'm always right.''  
  
Rory forced a smile on her face.  
  
R: ''So, who were you on the phone with ?''  
  
L: ''Sookie. She's baking me a cake.''  
  
R: ''A cake ? But it isn't your birthday, unless your celebrating it twice a year.''  
  
L: ''Actually it's for Luke. His birthday is tomorrow and I thought that it would be really nice and thoughtful of us if we baked him a cake.''  
  
R: ''It would, but we're not baking him the cake.''  
  
L: ''But he doesn't know that. I'm going to pick it up tomorrow morning.''  
  
R: ''Tomorrow ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
R: ''In the morning ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
R: ''But you hate getting up early.''  
  
L: ''I know, but Luke's birthday is an exception. So, do you think it's a good idea ?''  
  
R: ''Definitely.''  
  
*~*~*  
  
That night Rory decided to go for a walk to straighten things out, because right now her mind was a mess. She was confused about Jess' feelings towards her and she was confused about her feelings towards him and Dean. Dean used to be everything for her, he was sweet and caring and most important he was always there for her. But Jess was always there for her too, maybe not intentionally, but he was. Like that night when her mom and dad were fighting. It wasn't Dean who comforted her, it had been Jess. Suddenly she realized that she had ended up at the bridge, she always ended up at the bridge. She sat down and listened to the wind howling in the moondrenched night. She shivered when the wind blew past her. She kicked herself mentally for not bringing a jacket. Suddenly she heard footsteps on the bridge. As they came closer she smiled. She already knew who it was. She could smell the familiar scent of cigarette smoke and hair-gel. It had to be him. She knew that she partly came to the bridge, because she was hoping that he would show up. Jess sat down next to her without saying a word. Rory quickly glanced at him. She saw that he was smoking.  
  
R: ''Do you drink too ?''  
  
J: ''Occasionally.''  
  
Rory looked away from Jess and decided not to say anything else about him smoking.  
  
Jess threw a sideways glance at her before he threw his cigarette in the water. He knew that Rory didn't like it when he smoked. She said that she couldn't stand the smell of it. He wondered if she had ever tried cigarettes before ? Probably not. He couldn't really picture her as a smoking kind of girl.  
  
Rory could smell his scent even more now that he was sitting right next to her. Besides the cigarette smoke and the hair-gel, he also smelled like soap. Rory smiled. So he did take showers after all. Would his hair still stick up like that in the shower ? What would he look like in the shower anyway ? Rory immediately stopped herself from going any further than that. A small smile appeared on her face. She would bet all the books that she had that his hair would still stick up like that in the shower. The wind blew a strand of hair in front of her face, but this time she didn't shiver. Knowing that Jess was sitting right next to her made her forget about the could and besides she could feel the heat of his body burning into her skin.  
  
J: ''I saw you and Dean fighting.''  
  
Rory didn't say a thing.  
  
J: ''Dean's a jerk, you know ?''  
  
Jess looked at Rory, still no reaction.  
  
J: ''Hasn't that guy ever heard of talking before ? Cause yelling like that gives you a soar throat. He doesn't deserve you.''  
  
R: ''You're wrong.''  
  
J: ''Am I ?''  
  
R: ''You don't know Dean. So you shouldn't judge him.''  
  
Jess was quiet for a while. He couldn't believe how wonderful and unbelievable this girl was. Even though Dean yelled at her she was still defending him.  
  
Rory couldn't stand the silence anymore and started to talk again. Disturbing the peaceful night with the sound of her voice.  
  
R: ''It's Luke's birthday tomorrow, you know ?''  
  
J: ''Huh ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, we're going to surprise him with a cake tomorrow.''  
  
J: ''You guys can actually cook ?''  
  
R: ''I never said that we were making him the cake. Sookie's baking it for us. My mom's going to pick it up tomorrow. I can't wait to see the look on Luke's face when he sees the cake.''  
  
Jess listened to Rory go on and on about Luke's birthday. She sounded so excited. And it wasn't even her birthday. He looked at her. She was still talking with a smile on her face. Jess softly laughed.  
  
Rory stopped talking and looked over at Jess.  
  
R: ''Did I actually hear you laugh ?''  
  
J: ''I'm not made of stone, you know ?''  
  
R: ''I never said you were.''  
  
Jess met her eyes and they held each other's gaze.  
  
J: ''Can I ask you a question ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, sure.''  
  
J: ''Why are you being so nice to me ? Especially when the whole town practically thinks that I'm 'trouble'.''  
  
Rory smiled.  
  
R: ''Because you never gave me a reason not to be nice to you. And I don't care about what the whole town thinks. I can make up my own mind.''  
  
The wind started to blow even harder and this time Rory did shiver. She curled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. She looked up at Jess and met his eyes.  
  
R: ''And they don't know you.''  
  
Jess saw the soft look in her eyes and wondered what made her different than all the other girls that he had met before ? Maybe it was the fact that she didn't judge him and actually gave him a chance.  
  
J: ''And you do ?''  
  
R: ''I didn't say that.''  
  
She didn't say that, but Jess knew that she probably knew him better than anyone else. He never opened up to anyone else before.  
  
R: ''So, do you still hate it here ?''  
  
J: ''It's okay.''  
  
R: ''What made you change your mind ?''  
  
Jess hesitated before answering her. Should he be honest to her or should he just make up some lame story ? No, he should be honest to her. She had showed him that he could trust her. The only problem was that he didn't know how she was going to take it or how she was going to react ?  
  
J: ''You.''  
  
R: ''Me ?''  
  
Okay, now she was confused. What did he mean by that ? Was he just saying that as a friend or was he saying that as something more ?  
  
J: ''Yeah, you're the only person who didn't immediately put the tag bad boy on me.''  
  
Rory let out a sigh of relief. That was what he was talking about.  
  
R: ''Maybe not the tag bad boy, but I can make up another tag if you want ?''  
  
Jess smirked. Somehow he actually fell in love with her strange sense of humor. Actually he fell in love with everything about her. She had it all, looks, brains and personality. A personality as sweet as the person it belonged to.  
  
R: ''I better get home.''  
  
J: ''Why ?''  
  
Jess immediately regretted the question. Did she have to have a reason to go home ? It was just that he wanted her to stay.  
  
R: ''Cause I'm cold.''  
  
Jess took of his jacket and handed it to her.  
  
R: ''Now you're cold.''  
  
J: ''I'm fine.''  
  
R: ''Are you sure ? Cause if you turn into an ice-cube..........''  
  
J: ''Would you just take it.''  
  
He threw the jacket at her. Rory caught it and put it on. She was practically drowning in it, but she didn't care. It was warm and most important it was Jess'. She could smell his scent in the jacket. When she smelled the cigarette smoke she made a face.  
  
R: ''Even your jacket smells like cigarettes.''  
  
Jess gave her a look.  
  
R: ''But that's fine. I'm surprised it doesn't smell like beer.''  
  
J: ''That's my other jacket.''  
  
R: ''Bring it with you tomorrow ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, tomorrow.'' 


	7. Surprise!

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! This is probably my last update until next Friday, unless I find the time to write of course. This chapter turned out kind of long, cause I decided not to split it up in smaller chapters. I just couldn't, this chapter is perfect the way it is. It has a lot of emotion and drama in it. And a kiss!!! This is my favorite chapter so far and I really hope that you guys like it. Please leave a review and tell me. Thanks!!! And thanks for the reviews on the last chapter.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*  
  
Rory walked past the phone for the sixth time. She stopped and reached for the phone. But when her hand was only inches away from the phone she stopped. Should she really be the one apologizing here ? So she didn't tell Dean that Jess was joining her for dinner, but she only did that to protect him. She knew how furious Dean would get when he found out. Rory sighed and dropped herself on the couch. If only Lane could have kept her big mouth shut. Rory knew that she wasn't being fair. She never told Lane that she couldn't tell Dean about Jess joining them for dinner. It wasn't Lane's fault it was her own fault. She should have told Dean in the first place. Maybe then he would have showed a little less anger and a little more understanding. But Rory knew Dean and she knew that no matter how or when she told him he would get mad anyway. Mad about what ? What was he afraid of ? That she would accidentally talk to Jess during dinner ? Dean had nothing to be jealous about. Well, maybe he didn't used to have something to be jealous about, but now things were different. Things slowly changed. The more Rory talked with Jess the more she thought of him instead of Dean. She started to like Jess more and more and maybe she was a horrible person for thinking this, but she actually preferred spending time with Jess than with Dean. Maybe it was because she had been Dean's girlfriend for a long time now and she already knew everything about him. She knew all his secrets, all his dreams and all his wishes. And he knew hers.......except for one secret that she had tried to ignore it and locked it away where no one would ever find it. But her feelings for Jess were getting harder to ignore every day. She didn't want to ignore them anymore, but she didn't wanna break Dean's heart either. Suddenly she heard her mom's car and she got up. It would distract her from her thoughts for a while. Moments later her mom came into the living room with a huge white box in her hands.  
  
R: ''Is that the cake ?''  
  
L: ''No, it's just an empty box. We're moving.''  
  
R: ''If we're moving then one box is definitely not enough.''  
  
L: ''Ah, you saw right through me. What did I do wrong this time ?''  
  
R: ''Well, bringing only one box with you and the fact that it's obviously a box where you put cake in.''  
  
L: ''It is ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''How can you tell ?''  
  
R: ''Cause it's white and it's smaller than your normal boxes.''  
  
L: ''I agree with you on the last one, but boxes don't always have to be brown.''  
  
R: ''The boxes that people use to pack stuff in when they move are.''  
  
L: ''Really ? How do you know ?''  
  
R: ''Cause the boxes that Jess used to pack his stuff in were also brown.''  
  
L: ''So ? And how do you know what color Jess' boxes are anyway ?''  
  
R: ''Mom, boxes that are used for moving are brown. Live with it. And I know what color his boxes were, because I was in his room.''  
  
L: ''Do you think we could invent boxes that aren't brown ? Excuse me, you were in his room ? Why ?''  
  
R: ''Okay, first of all, yes, I think we can invent boxes that aren't brown. All we have to do is color them.''  
  
L: ''With markers ?''  
  
R: ''That's a possibility or we let the people in the factory color the boxes.''  
  
L: ''You're smart. But that still doesn't explain why you were in Jess' room.''  
  
R: ''I was just getting to that. I was there, because I borrowed a book from him and I was returning it. How does pink sound ?''  
  
L: ''Just returning it huh ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah. What would you have wanted me to do ? Throw stones at his window and wait until he opens it so that I can throw the book at him ?''  
  
L: ''Yep.''  
  
R: ''Mom, we're friends.''  
  
L: ''Friends who occasionally flirt with each other ?''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''Or friends who kiss and don't tell ?''  
  
R: ''Okay, I think you made your point.''  
  
L: ''What point ?''  
  
R: ''That things between me and Jess are different than they were before.''  
  
L: ''Really ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, I think I like him, but I'm..........''  
  
L: ''Like him like him or just like him as in hey pal ?''  
  
R: ''Like him like him, I think.''  
  
L: ''And what about Dean ? Do you still like him like him too ? Cause my money is on Mr. No.''  
  
R: ''Then you're going to be rich soon.''  
  
L: ''You do really like Jess, don't you ?''  
  
R: ''Am I a horrible person now ?''  
  
L: ''Of course not sweetie, it's perfectly normal to fall in love with guys. It's not perfectly normal to fall in love with Jess though, but.......''  
  
R: ''I never said love. Not once did I mention that word.''  
  
L: ''It's just a saying sweets. So, what are you going to do ?''  
  
R: ''Don't know yet, I'll figure that out tomorrow. Today it's all about Luke.''  
  
L: ''You're right. You wanna see the cake ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
Lorelai opened the box and showed Rory the cake. It was the biggest cake she had ever seen and it was beautifully decorated with roses of white chocolate and frosting. In the middle Sookie had written Happy Birthday Luke.  
  
R: ''It looks great.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, Sookie surpasses herself every time.''  
  
R: ''So, are we going to tell Luke that Sookie actually baked the cake instead of us ?''  
  
L: ''We could, but we're not going to.''  
  
R: ''Thought so.''  
  
L: ''How about we go get Luke ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, he'll be so surprised.''  
  
L: ''He better like cake.''  
  
R: ''Are we going to sing Happy Birthday for him ?''  
  
*~*~*  
  
About ten minutes later Lorelai entered the diner and made her way towards the counter where Luke was standing. Rory slowly followed. At least the place wasn't crowded, so she didn't have to feel guilty about sending all the people home with an empty stomach. She looked around the diner while she followed her mom to the counter. She was looking for him and when she didn't see him a disappointed look appeared on her face. But then she saw him. He just came out of the back and he hadn't seen her yet. She casually walked over to the counter, her heart beating faster with every step she took towards him. When she almost reached the counter he looked up.  
  
When Jess looked up he was surprised to find Rory standing on the other end of the counter. He smiled when he saw that the disappointed look on her face disappeared. A content look washed over her features, making her even more beautiful than she already was. He nodded at her. His recognition of her was rewarded with a sweet warm smile that would be able to melt the heart of every guy on this world. And he apparently was one of them, cause he started to feel weak and for one second he let his true feelings show. He let his guard down and he smiled a true smile at Rory.  
  
Rory's heart almost stopped beating when she saw the smile on his face, it softened his features and made him look less rugged.  
  
L: ''Hey Luke.''  
  
Luke: ''What are you doing here ?''  
  
L: ''What do you think ?''  
  
Luke: ''Coffee.''  
  
L: ''Normally yeah, but today, no.''  
  
Luke: ''Good one.''  
  
L: ''Actually we need your help.''  
  
Luke: ''With what ? Digging your grave ?''  
  
L: ''No, maybe next week though.''  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai, what do you want ?''  
  
L: ''Well.........Rory tell him.''  
  
Rory looked up and shot her mom a confused look.  
  
L: ''Tell him what happened ?''  
  
R: ''What happened ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, remember the thing that I did to the thing ?''  
  
R: ''Oh, right. Well, this morning mom actually tried to wash the dishes. But she said that the water wasn't warm enough, so she started to hit the faucet with a wrench.''  
  
L: ''Right and then I kept hitting and hitting it until it broke.''  
  
J: ''The faucet broke ?''  
  
She shot Jess a look before she looked at Luke again.  
  
R: ''Yep, right down the middle.''  
  
L: ''Well, not really obviously. But it's still broken. Water keeps coming out of it and the entire kitchen floor is wet.''  
  
R: ''Exactly.''  
  
L: ''So we need you to.........''  
  
Luke: ''Fix it ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah. So, do you mind ?''  
  
Luke: ''Now ?''  
  
L: ''Well, yeah. If you don't want us to drown that is.''  
  
Luke: ''As tempting as that sounds.''  
  
L: ''So, you'll come with us and fix it ?''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah, Jess can look after the diner for a little while.''  
  
R: ''No he can't.''  
  
J: ''You took the words right out of my mouth.''  
  
Luke: ''Why not ?''  
  
R: ''He needs to come too.''  
  
Luke: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''Cause I need help with my homework ?''  
  
Jess slightly laughed, but stopped when Rory shot him a warning look.  
  
L: ''Right, she needs help.''  
  
R: ''You don't mind, do you Luke ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, uncle Luke. You know a mind is a terrible thing to waste.''  
  
Luke: ''Sometimes I think it's already wasted.''  
  
R: ''So ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, so ?''  
  
Luke: ''Fine, I'll just get my toolbox.''  
  
L: ''No.''  
  
Luke: ''How am I supposed to fix your sink if I don't have any tools ?''  
  
L: ''We have our own tools.''  
  
Luke: ''Waterproof mascara isn't a tool Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''For your information we have a real toolbox. With all kind of tools that fix things.''  
  
Luke: ''Okay, let's go.''  
  
L: ''Thanks Luke.''  
  
Luke sighed and followed Lorelai to the door.  
  
Jess looked at Rory with an amused look on his face.  
  
R: ''What ?''  
  
J: ''You need help with your homework ?''  
  
Rory sighed and grabbed Jess by his arm.  
  
R: ''Let's just go.''  
  
Jess let her pull him towards the door. He looked at her fragile hand that was around his arm and smiled a sly smile. But quickly wiped it off of his face when she let go of his arm. She just needs help with her homework he reminded himself. Nothing more. Yeah, right.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When they reached the house of the Gilmore Girls, Lorelai covered Luke's eyes with her hands and lead him into the kitchen. Rory and Jess followed them.  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai, what are you doing ?''  
  
L: ''It's a surprise.''  
  
Luke: ''I'm going to die, aren't I ?''  
  
Lorelai ignored Luke's comment and signaled for Rory to open the box. Rory did so and took a step back. Lorelai removed her hands from Luke's eyes.  
  
Luke: ''What the..........''  
  
L: ''Surprise !''  
  
R: ''Happy Birthday Luke.''  
  
Luke looked from the two girls to the cake and back again.  
  
Luke: ''You didn't have to do this.''  
  
L: ''We wanted to.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, it's your birthday Luke. Everyone gets a cake on their birthday.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, tradition.''  
  
Luke: ''Thank you.''  
  
L: ''Any time. Now it's time to cut the cake.''  
  
Lorelai grabbed a knife and started to cut the cake. Luke stood next to her, feeling uncomfortable, but with a small smile on his face. It was nice of them to remember his birthday and bake him a cake. He didn't even know that they could cook. They probably ordered the cake or something. Even still, it was a really nice gesture.  
  
Jess took a step towards Rory with his hands on his back.  
  
J: ''Homework huh ?''  
  
R: ''I had to tell Luke something.''  
  
J: ''If you say so.''  
  
They locked eyes, but Rory looked away when she heard her mom call her name.  
  
L: ''You want cake sweets ?''  
  
R: ''Ooo of course. I love cake.''  
  
L: ''How about you Jess ?''  
  
J: ''Eh........''  
  
R: ''That's a yes.''  
  
L: ''I didn't hear Jess say yes. That's funny. Jess said yes.''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''What ? It is.''  
  
R: ''Just cut the cake.''  
  
Lorelai shrugged and went back to cutting the cake.  
  
J: ''It's a good thing that I don't have the knife.''  
  
Rory smiled.  
  
Lorelai handed Rory and Jess their cake. When everyone finished their cake Lorelai got another piece of cake out of the box.  
  
L: ''You know what I have always wanted to do ?''  
  
R: ''Fly ?''  
  
Lorelai shook her head and took another step towards Luke.  
  
R: ''Get abducted by aliens ?''  
  
L: ''No, this.''  
  
She took another step towards Luke and threw the piece of cake at him. It hit him straight in the face and both Lorelai and Rory started to laugh. While Luke was wiping the cake out of his face Lorelai got another piece and walked up to him.  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai, I swear if you do that again I'll........''  
  
L: ''You'll do what ?''  
  
She threw the cake at Luke and again it hit him in the face. Luke gently pushed Lorelai aside and grabbed two pieces of cake.  
  
L: ''You wouldn't dare.''  
  
Luke: ''Wanna bet ?''  
  
Lorelai shrieked when Luke threw the first piece at her. It missed her. Lorelai turned around and went outside. Luke didn't give up easily and followed her.  
  
Jess shook his head and turned around to say something to Rory, but before he could Rory threw a piece of cake at him. It hit him on the side of his face and Rory tried very hard not to burst out laughing.  
  
R: ''Cake looks good on you.''  
  
J: ''Really ?''  
  
He walked over to the box and grabbed the last piece of cake.  
  
J: ''I wonder how it will look on you ?''  
  
He started to walk over to Rory. Rory backed away from him, but stopped when she felt the wall against her back.  
  
R: ''Jess, I'm warning you........''  
  
Jess ignored her and walked up to her. Rory planted her hands on his chest and tried to push him away, but it didn't work. Jess took another step towards her and lifted up the piece of cake that he was still holding in his hand.  
  
R: ''Jess, don't.''  
  
But Jess ignored her and gently grabbed her face with one hand. With the other he rubbed the cake in her face. Rory shrieked. Finally Jess let go of her face and took a step back. He smiled when he heard her laugh. She wiped the cake off of her face and looked up at him.  
  
R: ''I can't believe you just did that.''  
  
Her eyes were shining with laughter and her lips were curled up into a smile. She ran her hands through her hair to make sure that there wasn't any cake in it. Then she looked up at Jess and held his gaze. She wondered if there was a rule that said how long you were supposed to hold someone's gaze ? How long before you look away ? Someone always had to look away. You couldn't look in each other's eyes for eternity.  
  
Jess wondered what she was thinking about ? He took a step towards her and reached for her lips.  
  
J: ''There's still cake on them.''  
  
Rory followed his every movement carefully. He brought his hand to the corner of her mouth and wiped the piece of cake away. But even though the cake was gone now, he still didn't remove his hand from her lips. Rory was well aware of his touch on her skin. A shiver ran down her spine. She slowly brought her eyes up and met Jess'.  
  
Jess met her eyes and searched for a sign. He looked deep into her eyes.  
  
Rory wondered what he wanted ? What did she want ? Did she want him to remove his hand from her lips ? No, it felt too good. She didn't want him to stop touching her. She took a step towards him so that their bodies were even closer.  
  
When he felt her small body against his chest he experienced something that he had never experienced before. He felt love and the anxiety to kiss her got even bigger. He couldn't stand it anymore. He couldn't stand being so close to her without having her lips on his. He brought his head closer to hers and kissed her.  
  
Rory carefully kissed him back. When they broke apart Jess looked at her with a soft look in his eyes. Rory never saw that look before in his eyes and smiled at him.  
  
Jess wiped a strand of hair away from her face and kissed her again. This kiss was longer than the first one. More gentle too. He knew that she couldn't break, but he didn't wanna hurt her by moving too fast. When Rory started to run her hands through his hair, he couldn't help but smile.  
  
Rory started to smile to and they stopped kissing. Their faces were only inches apart and she could feel his warm breath on her skin. Then all of a sudden everything fell apart. Rory stopped smiling and got a panicked look in her eyes.  
  
J: ''What's wrong ?''  
  
Rory didn't answer. She just kept looking at something behind him. Jess turned around and understood what was wrong.  
  
J: ''Dean.''  
  
D: ''I could trust you huh ?''  
  
Dean shot Jess a look that was filled with fiery. And for a moment Jess thought that Dean would punch him, but he didn't. He just turned around and left.  
  
R: ''Dean !''  
  
She pushed past Jess and headed for the door. Jess wanted to stop her and tell her that she should just forget about Dean. Dean wasn't worth everything that she went through. All the times he had yelled at Rory and all the times he accused Rory of something that wasn't true. But he didn't, instead he watched her walk away, wondering if she was coming back ? Coming back to him ?  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rory caught up with Dean and pleaded for him to stop. Finally Dean did and turned around to look at her.  
  
R: ''Dean, let me explain.''  
  
D: ''Explain what ? That you have obviously been lying to me this entire time ?''  
  
R: ''I didn't lie to you.''  
  
D: ''Didn't you ? Weren't you the one that said that Jess was just a friend ?''  
  
Rory lowered her eyes. He was right, she did say that.  
  
R: ''I'm sorry Dean, I wanted to tell you, but............''  
  
D: ''You couldn't ? You were afraid of hurting my precious feelings ?!''  
  
Rory cringed when he raised his voice.  
  
D: ''Tell me Rory, who do you really wanna be with ?''  
  
R: ''With you.''  
  
D: ''Don't lie to me Rory. You can break my heart, hurt my feelings, but please don't lie to me. We have known each other too long for that.''  
  
Rory nodded. They had known each other for a long time. They had been friends before they had become a couple and for the first time she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who really cared about her and who would do anything for her. Was she really ready to give that all up ?  
  
D: ''Who do you wanna be with ? Me or Jess ?''  
  
Rory was on the verge of tears when she looked up at him. He was really going to make her choose between him and Jess. If she gave him the right answer everything would turn out okay between them. They would work this out somehow, they always did. But if she gave him the wrong answer he would walk away and probably never look back. What did she really want ? Was she ready to give up what she had with Dean for Jess ? She thought about it for a second and finally she made a decision. She couldn't be the perfect little girl all the time. You had to take risks every now and then, right ? She closed her eyes to hold back the tears and bit her lip. It was now or never. She opened her eyes again and met Dean's eyes.  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
Dean looked at her and nodded.  
  
D: ''I guess I'll see you around then.''  
  
And with that he turned around and walked away from Rory. He didn't look back once, pretending that it didn't hurt him. But it did. As he went around the corner a tear slid down his cheek and fell to the ground.  
  
Rory slowly turned around, shocked about the decision that she had made and went home.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When she entered the kitchen Jess was still there. But he wasn't alone, her mom and Luke were also there. Laughing at something. She couldn't take it anymore and started to cry. Lorelai immediately got up and walked over to Rory.  
  
L: ''What's wrong sweets ? Why are you crying ?''  
  
Rory didn't answer and looked at Jess before she disappeared into her room.  
  
Luke: ''I think we better go. Thanks for the cake Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''You're welcome.''  
  
Jess looked at Rory's closed door. His eyes darkened and the walls that took her ages to break through went back up and hid his emotions from the world again. He put his hands in his pockets, pretending that he didn't care, that it didn't bother him that she was in her room crying and followed Luke outside.  
  
Lorelai closed the door behind them and went to check on Rory. She knocked and waited for an answer, but it never came. Lorelai opened the door anyway and went into Rory's room. Rory was lying on her bed crying, her entire body shaking. Lorelai couldn't stand the sound of Rory's cries any longer and walked over to her. Without saying a word she sat down next to her on the bed and started to stroke her hair.  
  
L: ''What's wrong sweets ? Why are you crying ?''  
  
R: ''Me and Jess kissed and then Dean walked in and.............saw us.''  
  
Rory's cries got even louder.  
  
R: ''I didn't wanna hurt Dean. I followed him outside to explain, but he said that there was nothing to explain and...........he was right. There is nothing to explain. Mom, I chose Jess over Dean.''  
  
Lorelai didn't know what to say, so instead she just kept stroking Rory's hair, waiting for her to finally stop crying. 


	8. Glass cell

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! It's been a while, I know. Please don't kill me ? This story was kind of difficult to write, because I didn't really know how to write Rory's emotions on Jess and Dean. So instead I turned her emotions into a dream. I hope you guys like it, please let me know. My next update will probably be tomorrow, I hope. Thanks for the reviews.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory was walking through a bright hall that seemed to go on forever. She couldn't seem to reach the end of the hall. But that wasn't the strangest thing. The thing that made her wonder was the fact that the entire hall was made out of glass. The walls, the floor, even the ceiling was made out of glass. Rory tried to look through the glass, just like you could do with a window, but for some reason she couldn't see anything on the other end of them. She carefully ran her fingers over the walls to make sure that it was really made of glass. Rory turned her head and quickly looked over her shoulder. She couldn't go back even if she wanted to. There was a glass wall behind her that forced her to keep walking. Every time she took a step forwards the wall moved forwards too, almost as if it was following her. She was trapped in a glass hall with no way of escaping. All she could do was to keep walking, hoping that she would find a door or something when she would finally reach the other end. After what seemed like forever she reached the end of the extremely long hallway. She looked at the glass wall in front of her. She looked over her shoulder again. The other wall was still there, nowhere for her to run back to. She looked at the wall again, this time closely looking at it. There had to be a way out of this hallway, she couldn't stay here for the rest of her life. Finally she thought that she saw the outlines of a door in the wall. She placed her hand on it and started to push, but of course the door wouldn't open. That would be too easy. Rory removed her hand from the wall and started to search for a door- handle of some kind, a way to open the door. Suddenly the door opened. Rory gasped and took a step back. She reached for the silver necklace that she always wore. She let out a sigh of relief when she felt that it was still there. She let go of her necklace and went into whatever that would be on the other end of the door. She came into a room. The room was a really big square and the walls were also made of glass. For some reason she wasn't even surprised about that. She looked around the room. The room was entirely empty. She turned around to see if the door was still there and didn't just disappear. When she saw that it was still there, she turned around again. As soon as she turned around she noticed that something was different. She could feel another presence in the room. Then she noticed someone standing in the middle of the room, with his back facing her. Rory hesitated, but took a few steps towards the person. When she was only a couple of feet away she recognized the person. It was Dean.  
  
R: ''Dean.''  
  
Dean either didn't hear her or he was pretending that he didn't hear her. Rory took another step towards him and tried to get his attention again.  
  
R: ''Dean ?''  
  
She reached out her hand to touch his shoulder, but just as she was about to place her hand on his shoulder, he turned around. Rory took a step back when she saw the cold and empty look in his eyes. It gave her chills.  
  
R: ''Dean ? What's wrong ? Didn't you hear me ?''  
  
Dean still didn't say anything. He just kept staring at her, his look getting colder and colder. Then Rory noticed that he was holding something in his hands. She looked at the strange object that was resting in his hands. It was a heart, a glass heart. She looked up at Dean again. This time she didn't recognize him. He still looked like the Dean she knew, but the look in his eyes and his attitude toward her was different. It was scaring her a little. Dean smirked at her and let go of the glass heart. It fell to the ground and shattered into a million pieces. Rory shrieked when the glass hit the floor and started to back away from Dean. She looked at the glass that was scattered around her and Dean. For some reason she felt sad. It had been a beautiful heart and now it was 'broken'. Rory met Dean's gaze again. There was so much hurt in them. When Rory took a step towards him, he started to fade.  
  
R: ''Dean ? What's happening ?''  
  
By the time she reached Dean, he had vanished in thin air. Rory who was confused looked around the room. But Dean wasn't here anymore. She dropped to her knees in front of the glass and started to cry over Dean's broken heart. Suddenly she heard a noise and she looked up just in time to see the door close. Rory got up and went to the door. She tried to open the door, but no matter how hard she pushed it wouldn't open. Rory who was still crying started to panic. She was trapped. Held prison in a glass cell with no way out. She started to scream when she saw that the room started to fill with water. Rory looked around, but couldn't figure out where the water was coming from. Then she realized that the water was coming from her. Her tears were starting to fill the room with water. She looked at the water again, it had reached her waist by now. She tried to stop crying, but she couldn't. She didn't have any control over her tears. Then the water started to rise again and Rory started to scream. Hoping that someone would hear her and rescue her out of this glass hell. Then the water reached her mouth and made sure that no one would hear her scream again. Rory had trouble breathing and realized that she was drowning in her tears.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rory opened her eyes and immediately her hands went to her eyes. When she felt the wetness on her fingers her breathing started to quicken. She had been crying. She took a deep breath to calm her breathing down and closed her eyes for a minute. When she felt normal again she opened them again. Luckily it had just been a dream, but it sure felt real. Especially the look in Dean's eyes. They were so cold and filled with hurt. Rory wondered if she did shatter Dean's heart just like it did in her dream. Rory got up and quickly put on her robe. It was just a dream, nothing to worry about. Trying to forget about her horrifying dream, she opened her door and quietly made her way over to the living room. When she came in she found her mom sitting on the couch watching TV, dressed in her work clothes.  
  
R: ''Hey mom.''  
  
Lorelai looked up and smiled when she saw Rory come in.  
  
L: ''Morning sweets.''  
  
Rory made her way over to the couch and sat down next to her mom. She followed her mom's gaze to the television screen.  
  
R: ''What are we watching ?''  
  
Lorelai shrugged.  
  
L: ''Reruns of some old soap.''  
  
R: ''It must be old if they're showing reruns.''  
  
L: ''Hence the old in my last sentence.''  
  
Lorelai looked at Rory from out of the corner of her eye.  
  
L: ''So, how are you doing ?''  
  
R: ''Fine.''  
  
L: ''Fine as in you're actually doing well or fine as in you don't wanna talk about it ?''  
  
R: ''The last one.''  
  
Lorelai nodded and didn't say anything for a while.  
  
L: ''Samantha is coming to stay with us for a couple of days.''  
  
R: ''Why ?''  
  
L: ''You know her mom.''  
  
R: ''Business trip ?''  
  
L: ''Yep.''  
  
R: ''Poor Sam.''  
  
L: ''Poor Sam ? She's a brat, spoiled rotten.''  
  
R: ''That's because her mom doesn't have any time for her.''  
  
L: ''I still don't like her.''  
  
R: ''Then why did you say that she could stay here ?''  
  
L: ''She has to stay somewhere.''  
  
R: ''The street's not an option ?''  
  
L: ''Unfortunately not. We could send her to an hotel though.''  
  
R: ''Can we, please ?''  
  
Lorelai slightly laughed and looked at Rory.  
  
L: ''She's arriving at the bus-stop in two hours.''  
  
R: ''She's actually coming by bus ? I thought she couldn't stand public transportation ?''  
  
L: ''She does, but her mom made her. If she could she would take an airplane.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, business class too.''  
  
Lorelai started to laugh.  
  
R: ''What's so funny ?''  
  
L: ''It's just she flies business class and her mom is always away on business trips.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled half a smile.  
  
R: ''I do feel sorry for her though.''  
  
L: ''O yeah, me too. Real sorry. Anyway do you mind picking her up and showing her around town ?''  
  
R: ''Sure, I'll give her the grand tour.''  
  
L: ''The short or the long version ?''  
  
R: ''Long.''  
  
L: ''So, you'll be done in 15 minutes.''  
  
R: ''Basically.''  
  
L: ''Are you sure you don't mind ? I could take a day off at work.''  
  
R: ''I'll be fine.''  
  
L: ''I never doubted you.''  
  
Lorelai quickly hugged Rory and got up. She started to put on her jacket.  
  
L: ''I'll meet you two at Luke's later ?''  
  
R: ''Is there any other place ?''  
  
Lorelai smiled and grabbed her bag. She turned around to say goodbye to Rory, but stopped when she saw the look on her daughter's face.  
  
L: ''Hey.''  
  
Rory looked up at her mom.  
  
L: ''I'm sure you made the right decision sweets.''  
  
Rory gave her mom a weak smile. Lorelai waved and left for work. She knew that she had mde the right decision, choosing Jess over Dean, but she still had trouble with the fact that she didn't even think twice about it. She wondered if she really did love Dean ? Rory turned off the TV and went to take a shower. 


	9. Rainy days

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! Next chapter is up!!! Probably my last update until Friday. I really wanna update every day, but I can't. Last weeks of school and my teachers are filling them with tests and presentations. I hope you guys understand. I can't wait 'till summerbreak, I'll update every day. Promise!!! Thanks for the reviews. Please review if you want me to continue.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory wrapped her jacket tighter around herself as she slowly made her way over to the bus stop. Rain was coming down on her, wetting her face and hair as she walked. Rory put her hands in her pockets and looked up at the gray sky above her. She loved the rain, too bad it didn't last forever. It always stopped after a while. Rory held out her hand and caught a couple of raindrops. When she turned her hand around they dropped to the ground, slipping away from her. They reminded her of her dream and Dean's heart that fell to the ground and broke. She wondered if the pieces were still there, just lying on the ground with no way to fix them. Rory shook her head and tried to forget about her dream. Dean was going to be fine, he would find another girlfriend, a girlfriend who would be worthy of his love and devotion. She had made the right decision, she did what she thought was right at the moment. She chose Jess and it still felt right. As she walked past the diner, she couldn't resist to look through the window. When she didn't see Jess a wave of disappointment went through her. She was hoping that she would catch a glimpse of him. But on the other hand she wasn't sure if she was ready to see him yet, let alone talk to him. If she talked to him she would have to tell him about her true feelings for him and she would have to tell him about breaking up with Dean. Funny calling it a break-up when nobody even mentioned that word or a word that came close to the same definition. It was just over, she knew it as soon as Dean had caught her and Jess kissing. Rory looked away from the window and kept walking. She had to talk to him sooner or later, she knew that. But she was glad that she didn't have to do it right now. As she approached the bus stop, she could see her cousin Samantha standing on the sidewalk with an umbrella in her hand. In the other she had a small suitcase. Probably an expensive suitcase. Her cousin always had to have the best of the best. One time Rory asked her why she always had to buy the most expensive things and Samantha had answered her by telling her that in order to look her best she had to have the best. A small smile appeared on Rory's face when she saw Sam's clothes. Looked like her cousin didn't change one bit. A white blouse, a pair of dark-blue jeans probably from a famous brand and a pair of expensive looking black boots. Samantha looked much older than Rory even though she was only two years older. Rory wondered if Samantha's personality changed over the years ? If she still was a popular, spoiled brat who would have anything or anyone her heart desired. Rory called out to Samantha.  
  
R: ''Samantha !''  
  
Samantha turned around and a smile broke through her perfect face, showing the beautiful features that were hidden underneath the layers of lip gloss and eyeliner.  
  
S: ''Rory.''  
  
Rory stopped in front of Samantha and hugged her.  
  
R: ''Nice to see you again Sam.''  
  
S: ''Same here.''  
  
Samantha quickly gave Rory a kiss on her cheek, leaving a red stain of lip gloss on it.  
  
S: ''Sorry about that.''  
  
R: ''Don't worry about it.''  
  
Rory wiped the lip gloss away and took Samantha's suitcase.  
  
R: ''Let's drop this at my house and then we'll go to Luke's.''  
  
S: ''Fine by me.''  
  
The two girls started to walk away from the bus stop.  
  
S: ''Do you think that it will rain the entire day ?''  
  
Rory shrugged as she wondered what Samantha had in her suitcase. You almost had to have a crane to lift it.  
  
R: ''Don't know, probably 'till tomorrow morning.''  
  
S: ''Great, just great. I'm getting mud all over my new boots........''  
  
Rory smiled as she listened to Sam go on an on about how expensive her boots had been. That was the Sam she knew alright.  
  
*~*~*  
  
About half an hour later the two girls were sitting at a table at Luke's. Rory with her hair soaked and Samantha who had changed into a pair of sneakers. Rory took a sip of her coffee and wondered how long they would keep up the small talk.  
  
S: ''So, how's school ?''  
  
Rory put her coffee down and shrugged.  
  
R: ''School's just school.''  
  
S: ''Still getting A's I assume ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
She said it with a proud look on her face.  
  
S: ''I don't know how you do it.''  
  
R: ''I study.''  
  
Samantha rolled her eyes and carefully took a sip from her water, making sure not to smear her make-up.  
  
R: ''How's your mom ?''  
  
Samantha's eyes darkened for a moment, but she quickly recovered and smiled.  
  
S: ''You know my mom. She's busy with work.''  
  
Rory dropped the subject, knowing that Samantha didn't like to talk about her mom.  
  
S: ''How are things between you and your boyfriend ?''  
  
Rory clasped her hands together and looked out the window.  
  
R: ''We broke up.''  
  
S: ''Kidding right ?''  
  
R: ''Nope.''  
  
S: ''But..........why ? You guys were absolutely perfect together.''  
  
Rory looked at Samantha, anger starting to show in her eyes.  
  
R: ''Well, I guess I'm not perfect anymore.''  
  
Samantha saw the look in Rory's eyes and knew that she should probably drop the subject, but knowing how stubborn she was, she didn't.  
  
S: ''What happened ?''  
  
R: ''We........we were growing apart.''  
  
S: ''You've got to give me a better answer than that.''  
  
Rory narrowed her eyes and remembered why she never liked Samantha. She always had to know everything about everyone. Gossip was her main priority, that and guys and clothes of course.  
  
R: ''I............we...........''  
  
Rory took a deep breath before she continued.  
  
R: ''I didn't love him anymore.''  
  
S: ''How come ? I thought..............''  
  
R: ''Cause I kissed another guy.''  
  
Rory saw Samantha's eyes fill with shock and couldn't help to smile a satisfying smile. She probably never expected her to do anything like that.  
  
S: ''You cheated on Dean ?''  
  
Rory's smile disappeared and nodded. Just because she didn't love Dean anymore didn't mean that she didn't feel bad about Dean walking in on her and Jess kissing.  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
S: ''While you two were still together ?''  
  
Rory nodded, hoping that Samantha would stop talking about it, but knowing Sam, she probably wouldn't. Not before she got all the details.  
  
S: ''What's the name of the guy you cheated with ?''  
  
Just as Samantha asked her that, Jess came down the stairs and entered the diner. Rory watched him walk over to the counter and grab a book out of his pocket. Rory bit her lip to keep from crying. It looked like Jess just moved on, pretending that their kiss never happened.  
  
S: ''Rory ?''  
  
Jess was just about to open his book when he heard someone call her name. He slowly looked up and looked directly into a pair of hurt blue eyes. Jess could feel confusion inside of him. Why was she looking at him with a hurt look in her eyes ? What did he do ? He closed his book and wanted to walk over to her, but before he could, Rory got up and left the diner. Jess turned around and went back upstairs, ignoring Luke.  
  
Samantha watched the guy go back upstairs. She took a sip of water and got up. She had a feeling that he was the main reason for Rory's break-up with Dean. Samantha put on her jacket and left the diner.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When Samantha got at the house of the Gilmore Girls, the place was quiet, too quiet. Samantha called Rory's name, but didn't get a answer. She walked over to Rory's room and knocked on the closed door. She entered without waiting for an answer.  
  
Inside Rory was sitting on her bed, reading the scene from Romeo and Juliet that was written in Jess' handwriting. She looked up when Samantha came into her room. Rory quickly folded the piece of paper up again and wiped a tear from her eyes.  
  
S: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey. Sorry I just ran off like that.''  
  
S: ''That's okay. What were you reading ?''  
  
Rory bit her lip and tightened her grip on the piece of paper as if she was afraid that Samantha might take it from her.  
  
R: ''Nothing important.''  
  
S: ''Are you sure ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
Rory got up from her bed and placed the piece of paper on her desk. Then she turned around and faced Samantha with a forced smile on her face.  
  
R: ''So, what do you say we order some pizza ?''  
  
*~*~*  
  
That night Rory put on her jacket and went outside. She just needed to get out of the house for a little while, away from Samantha's questions. She closed the door behind her and started to walk, leaving her house behind her. It was still raining softly and just that brought a smile to her face. Without knowing where she was going she started to walk. When she reached the bridge, she stopped when she saw him sitting on the bridge. She hesitated, but started to walk over to Jess. She wondered what he was doing here ? It was raining after all.  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Jess turned his head and quickly looked up at her.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
Then he shifted his gaze back to the water in front of him. Rory removed her hands from her pockets and sat down next to him on the wet bridge. They both sat there for a while, watching the rain hit the water. Rory listened to the sound of the rain hitting the bridge and to the sound of her own breathing. By the time she looked at Jess again she was soaked from head to toe. Rory wiped a strand of wet hair away from her face and started to think of a way to start this conversation.  
  
Jess was well aware of her eyes that were watching him. And he was aware that they were sitting close to each other, maybe to close for their own good. When Rory looked away from him, he quickly glanced at her. Water was dripping from her hair and her face. He looked back at the water. Why did she come here ?  
  
R: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
Jess didn't look at her.  
  
J: ''Sorry for what ?''  
  
R: ''I'm sorry for going after Dean yesterday and I'm sorry for.........''  
  
Jess could hear Rory sigh.  
  
R: ''For avoiding you today.''  
  
J: ''You were avoiding me ? Cause I just thought that it was my new cologne.''  
  
R: ''I didn't mean to, I just had to............''  
  
J: ''To what ?''  
  
R: ''To make sure that I made the right decision by breaking up with Dean.''  
  
A please smiled started to form on Jess' face, but he still didn't look at Rory.  
  
J: ''You broke up with him ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah. Well, we didn't really broke up. I mean we did, but the word break-up wasn't exactly used in a sentence. Nor the word through for that matter. It's just over. He made me choose between him and you and...........''  
  
J: ''You couldn't choose, so you decided to break up with him. And now you decided that you want neither one of us ?''  
  
R: ''Actually I chose you ?''  
  
J: ''Come again ?''  
  
He met Rory's eyes.  
  
R: ''I chose you.''  
  
J: ''So, let me get this straight. You chose me ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
J: ''Over Dean ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
J: ''So what you're saying is that you chose me over Dean ? Dean, your first boyfriend, Dean............''  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''Right, sorry.''  
  
They were quiet for a while.  
  
J: ''Do you have any doubts about your decision ?''  
  
Rory thought about it for a minute and shook her head.  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
Jess nodded and took her hand in his. Rory looked up at him with a smile on her face. Then he leaned over to her and wanted to kiss her.  
  
R: ''You're going to get water all over me.''  
  
Jess smirked at her before he placed a soft kiss on her lips that were saturated with water. He wanted to pull away, but Rory placed her arms around his neck and kissed him. Jess kissed her back as he became totally engrossed in her soft yet eager touch. He gently forced her lips apart and imposed his tong in her mouth. Rory moaned and pressed her body against Jess', demanding to be even closer to him than she already was. Jess broke the kiss and looked at her with an ebullient look on his face.  
  
J: ''Walk you home ?''  
  
R: ''Can't we stay here a little longer ?''  
  
Jess lightly brushed his lips against hers.  
  
J: ''If that's what you want.''  
  
Rory nodded and wanted to answer, but before she could Jess kissed her. 


	10. Tender is the Night, with you

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! First of all I wanna thank every single one of you who reviewed the last chapter and my two new stories. THANKS!!! And I wanna say that I know that a few people might not like the idea for * Beautiful Black Rose*, but I'm going to continue it anyway. So, if you don't like it, please don't read it. Thanks. Okay, back to the point. Obviously I added another chapter. I hope you guys like it. I'm slowly building up the last part of the plot. Please review and tell me what's on your mind.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
The next morning Rory woke up with the memory of last night still emblazoned on her mind. When she heard the rain softly falling outside, a smile graced her features, the memory of last night getting clearer. She closed her eyes and pictured herself sitting on the bridge with Jess. She was able to smell the rain now. It was a mixture of wet leaves, earth and maybe even some flowers whom's scent survived the day and lived on in the night. She couldn't really explain it. She could hear the rain falling in the background and she could feel the rain on her skin and dripping from her clothes. But she didn't pay any attention to it, she didn't care about the rain. All she cared about right now was getting as close as she could to Jess. When he kissed her, she could feel the heat spread across her body, chasing away the coldness. She could taste the rain on his lips, salvaging it, wishing that they could stay here forever. But after a while they had gotten up and Jess had walked her home. When they had reached the door, Jess had leaned in as if he wanted to kiss her, but instead he just wiped a strand of hair away from her face and looked at her with his intense, brown eyes. While he had been looking at her, Rory had smiled shyly and when she had looked up to meet Jess' eyes again, there had been a smirk on his face. And that smirk had been better than a kiss, it had meant so much more to her. It was the kind of gesture that showed her that he would be around when she needed him. Rory's smile grew bigger and she lay there for a while being satisfied with everything that she had. Finally she opened her eyes again and sighed. She wished that she could lay here the entire day, thinking of last night, but unfortunately she had school. Rory slowly got up and sighed again. There was a knock on the door and moments later her mom came in.  
  
R: ''Morning.''  
  
L: ''Good your awake.''  
  
R: ''Yep, I am.''  
  
L: ''Cause I was starting to worry. I though that maybe someone put some sleeping potion in your coffee and that you would sleep for a hundred years.''  
  
R: ''Sorry to disappoint you.''  
  
L: ''Oh well, at least I don't have to go to Luke's alone.''  
  
R: ''I have school, remember ?''  
  
L: ''I know, but if we hurry we have enough time to get a quick cup of coffee. So, what do you say ?''  
  
R: ''What will happen to me if I say no ?''  
  
L: ''Then I'll ban you from this family.''  
  
R: ''In that case, yeah.''  
  
L: ''Good girl, now get dressed.''  
  
Lorelai left Rory's room and closed the door, leaving Rory alone again. Rory looked at her jeans, that were still soaked from last night and smiled. Coffee and her sort of boyfriend, what more could a girl want ?  
  
*~*~*  
  
L: ''Since when does she get up so early ?''  
  
Lorelai nodded in the direction of Samantha, who was leading the way to the diner. Rory shrugged, not really paying attention to what her mother was saying. She glanced at the diner that was starting to come closer with every step she took. She was hoping that Jess would be up already, so she could catch a glance of him before she went to school. Maybe she would even be able to steal a kiss. Rory smiled when she felt the excitement inside of her and crossed her fingers.  
  
Lorelai was watching her daughter with a small smile on her face. She recognized that look in Rory's eyes. She used to look at Christopher that way. Lorelai followed Rory's gaze to the diner and wondered what made Jess special ? What made Jess different from Dean and all the other guys ? Out of all the guys, why did Rory fall in love with Luke's nephew ? All these questions ran through Lorelai's head, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to answer them. But only Rory knew the answers.  
  
Suddenly Rory felt an arm around her shoulders and looked up.  
  
L: ''Jess was at the bridge last night.''  
  
R: ''Is that a question ?''  
  
L: ''No, it's more like a statement, a fact even.''  
  
R: ''A fact ?''  
  
L: ''Well, isn't it ?''  
  
Rory glanced at the diner again and started to blush at the remembrance of just sitting in the rain with Jess.  
  
L: ''Did you two kiss ?''  
  
Rory nodded and grinned.  
  
L: ''More than once ?''  
  
R: ''Question. Why do you have to know ?''  
  
L: ''Cause I'm your mom. My job is to know everything about you.''  
  
R: ''I thought that was the job of the secret service ?''  
  
L: ''It is, I was a secret agent back in the days.''  
  
R: ''You had a secret life before me ?''  
  
L: ''Yep, but that's not the point here.''  
  
R: ''Then let's get back to the point.''  
  
L: ''Right. How many times did you and Jess kiss ?''  
  
R: ''A lot.''  
  
L: ''O my God you guys made out !''  
  
Samantha turned around and gave them a questionable look.  
  
S: ''Who made out ?''  
  
L: ''I didn't say that.''  
  
S: ''Yes you did.''  
  
L: ''What are you talking about ?''  
  
S: ''I just heard you say..........''  
  
L: ''No you didn't.''  
  
S: ''Yes, I did.''  
  
L: ''I'm the grown up and I say that you didn't hear it. O look, we're here.''  
  
Lorelai pushed the door of the diner open and went inside before Samantha could continue. Samantha looked at Rory and wanted to say something, but before she could Rory followed her mom into the diner still with her fingers crossed. Rory felt disappointed when she didn't see Jess. She sat down at the counter and greeted Luke with a small smile as he approached them.  
  
Luke: ''Morning.''  
  
L: ''Morning Duke.''  
  
Luke shot Lorelai a look  
  
Luke: ''I thought we covered this ?''  
  
L: ''We did, but it's still fun.''  
  
Luke: ''Hilarious.''  
  
Luke grabbed three cups and filled them with coffee. Lorelai looked at the coffee with a mistrustful look on her face.  
  
Luke: ''What's wrong ?''  
  
L: ''Something's wrong with the coffee, I'm sure of it.''  
  
Luke: ''You always have coffee.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, but something's still wrong.''  
  
Luke: ''Why ?''  
  
L: ''Cause you just gave it to me without telling me that it's bad for me and bla bla bla and so on.''  
  
Luke sighed and rolled his eyes.  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai, nothing's wrong with the coffee.''  
  
Lorelai lifted the cup of coffee up from the counter and slowly brought it to her lips. She closed her eyes and carefully took a sip. When she swallowed she opened her eyes again.  
  
L: ''Am I dead ?''  
  
Luke: ''I wish.''  
  
L: ''Hey, your life would be a lot less fun if I wasn't around.''  
  
Luke: ''Or a lot less stressful.''  
  
He ignored Lorelai and handed Samantha the third cup of coffee. Samantha looked at the cup of coffee as if it was the most horrible thing she had ever seen.  
  
S: ''I don't drink coffee.''  
  
Luke: ''You're kidding ?''  
  
L+R: ''Nope.''  
  
S: ''Can I have a glass of orange juice instead ?''  
  
Luke: ''Sure.''  
  
He put the coffee down and turned around so he could get a glass of orange juice for Samantha. Lorelai took the opportunity to grab Samantha's cup of coffee and finished it in one gulp. Rory shook her head and took a sip of her coffee glancing at the stairs every now and then. Finally she couldn't take it anymore and put her coffee down.  
  
R: ''Luke ?''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah ?''  
  
R: ''Is Jess...........''  
  
Luke: ''Upstairs ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
Luke: ''He's upstairs.''  
  
Rory didn't say anything for a while, not sure what she was supposed to say next. Luke turned around and handed Samantha her orange juice.  
  
Luke: ''You can go up if you want.''  
  
Rory looked up at Luke.  
  
R: ''Yeah ?''  
  
Luke: ''Sure, I think he's up.''  
  
Rory smiled at Luke and got up. Moments later she disappeared up the stairs. But when she reached the door of Luke and Jess' apartment she hesitated. What if Jess wasn't up yet ? Or what if he didn't want to see her right now ? She could be intruding. Rory bit her lip and wondered what she would do now. Then all of a sudden the door opened and she was greeted by Jess who had obviously just come out of the shower. His hair was still damp, making it look even darker than it already was, his shirt was clinging to him a little showing off the lines of his chest and he smelled like cologne.  
  
Jess smirked when he saw Rory standing in front of him, looking at him with her piercing blue eyes that resembled a clear unclouded sky on a hot summer day. He saw how insecure she was and yet so sure of herself at the same time. Jess wondered if that was even possible. He leaned against the door frame and kept his eyes on her as she started to blush. His smirk turned into an undisguised smile while he took in everything about her appearance. She looked cute in a natural way with her chocolate colored hair and nacreous colored skin. Finally he decides to break the intimate silence between them.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
Rory smiled at him modestly.  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
J: ''So, what are you doing up here ?''  
  
Rory clutched her hands nervously together and lowered her eyes. As she did this Jess realized that she was innocent, almost knew at this whole 'seeing each other after our first make out session'. She probably never did this before. Maybe with Dean, but Jess doubted that they really had that much make out session.  
  
R: ''Luke told me that I could go up.''  
  
J: ''Rory, just say it.''  
  
R: ''Say what ?''  
  
J: ''That you came up here to see me.''  
  
R: ''I did not.''  
  
Jess crossed his arms and looked at her, trying not to laugh at her obvious denial.  
  
J: ''So, you came up here because...........?''  
  
R: ''I like this hallway.''  
  
J: ''Well, if you like the hallway you'll like the inside of this apartment even better.''  
  
R: ''I probably will, but unfortunately I have to go to school and so do you.''  
  
Jess uncrossed his arms and reached for her hand. He laced his fingers with hers and pulled her a little closer.  
  
J: ''How about we skip school today ?''  
  
He pulled her into the apartment and closed the door with his free hand.  
  
R: ''Skip school ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah.''  
  
He gently backed her up against the door.  
  
R: ''I can't skip school, I never skip school.''  
  
J: ''You've gotta start sometime.''  
  
R: ''And besides Luke won't let you................''  
  
Before she could finish her sentence Jess kissed her. Rory started to smile, making it hard for them to kiss, but somehow they managed. Jess broke the kiss, but their faces were only inches apart.  
  
J: ''You were saying ?''  
  
R: ''That I would gladly skip school for you.''  
  
J: ''Really ?''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes.  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
She quickly brushed her lips against Jess' lips before she turned the doorknob and opened the door. Jess sighed and grabbed his bag from the floor.  
  
J: ''Fine, I'll go to school and expand my horizon.''  
  
Rory gently touched his hand and went downstairs, Jess slowly following her. Rory walked straight over to her mom to get her bag and put on her jacket. She took one last sip of her coffee and gave her mom a quick kiss on the cheek.  
  
R: ''I'm off.''  
  
L: ''Have fun sweets.''  
  
S: ''Yeah, later.''  
  
R: ''Bye Luke, bye Jess.''  
  
J: ''Be home in time for dinner.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes at him and left.  
  
All this time Samantha had been looking at Jess. She had to admit that Rory did have taste. Good body, dark eyes, black hair, a major hottie. Samantha felt like giggling. This reminded her of high-school.  
  
J: ''I'm going too.''  
  
Luke: ''Where to ?''  
  
J: ''To get an education.''  
  
He smiled at Luke and left.  
  
*~*~*  
  
S: ''Hey !''  
  
Jess glanced over his shoulder and was surprised to see a girl come his way. As she came closer he recognized her. She had been sitting at the diner too. He had never seen her around here before. He wondered what she wanted ? He patiently waited for the girl to reach him, she wasn't really making any effort to hurry. Jess glanced at his watch and shrugged. Being late at school wasn't the end of the world. Finally the girl reached him.  
  
S: ''Hey.''  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
S: ''I'm Rory's cousin, Samantha.''  
  
She held out her hand, waiting for him to shake it. Jess glanced at her, looking at her face. He never did get why girls had to hide themselves underneath so much make-up. Was it an insecurity thing ? Cause this girl had nothing to be insecure about. Beautiful body with curves on the right places, a pair of ivy colored eyes and the same brown hair as Rory. The only difference was that it was a little shorter and that she had a few blonde streaks. Jess could see some resemblance between her and Rory, but there was no doubt in his mind that Rory was a totally different person than Samantha. He reached out his hand and shook hands with Samantha.  
  
J: '''Nice to meet you Samantha.''  
  
S: ''Call me Sam. Who are you ?''  
  
Jess looked at her again, wondering why she followed him ?  
  
J: ''I'm Jess.''  
  
S: ''Hey Jess. So, you live with Luke ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, he's my uncle.''  
  
Samantha nodded in understanding.  
  
S: ''Your parents didn't want you ?''  
  
J: ''Excuse me ?''  
  
S: ''Never mind. So, you and Rory......are you two together ?''  
  
Jess shrugged.  
  
J: ''Sort of.''  
  
S: ''How can you sort of be together ? I mean you are or you're not. It's as easy as that. And I think you two are definitely together.''  
  
J: ''Thanks for your opinion.''  
  
S: ''No problem. She broke up with Dean for you, you know ?''  
  
J: ''I know.''  
  
S: ''That's a pretty big thing, especially for Rory............''  
  
J: ''I really have to go to school.''  
  
S: ''O right, sorry. I don't wanna be the one who keeps you from sitting in boring classrooms.''  
  
Jess nodded at her.  
  
J: ''Bye.''  
  
S: ''It was nice talking to you.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, bye.''  
  
He turned around and started to head for school, not sure what to think of this Samantha. One thing he did know though, she asked a lot of questions and she wore a lot of make-up.  
  
*~*~*  
  
After school Rory went over to Stars Hollow Books. Her mom wasn't home yet and the only person who was at home had been on the phone for the last hour or two. Rory scanned the bookshelves, not looking for anything in particular, but just waiting for something to catch her eye. Suddenly a title caught her attention. She picked the book up and read the title on the cover. Tender is the Night. Rory smiled. She totally agreed. The night could be tender, if you were with the right person that was. Suddenly she felt two arms slip around her waist. Rory tried to pull free, but the person who grabbed her pulled her up to his chest.  
  
J: ''I though I might find you here.''  
  
R: ''God, Jess. Did you have to do that ?''  
  
J: ''Sorry.''  
  
Jess wiped her hair away from her neck and started to kiss her collarbone. Rory shivered and wanted to protest when Jess stopped. He took the book that she was holding in her hands from her and read the title.  
  
J: ''Tender is the Night huh ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, have you read it ?''  
  
J: ''Nope, can't say I have.''  
  
Jess handed her the book again.  
  
J: ''You're going to get it ?''  
  
Rory shrugged, looking at the book that she was holding in her hands. Finally she put it back on the shelf.  
  
R: ''I can always get it at the library.''  
  
Jess moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulder.  
  
J: ''You wanna go for a walk ?''  
  
R: ''With you ?''  
  
J: ''No.''  
  
R: ''Okay.''  
  
They left the bookstore and started to walk in the direction of the bridge. Somehow they always ended up there.  
  
J: ''I met your cousin today ?''  
  
R: ''You met Sam ?''  
  
J: ''That's what I said.''  
  
R: ''So, what do you think ?''  
  
J: ''Of her ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
Jess shrugged as he pulled Rory a little closer.  
  
J: ''She's okay. She asked me a lot of questions.''  
  
R: ''About ?''  
  
J: ''My parents, Dean, your break up with him. And normally I wouldn't mind to answer a few questions, but these were kind of personal.''  
  
R: ''I'm sorry, she's always been like this.''  
  
J: ''A pain ?''  
  
R: ''Basically. She's not my favorite person in the world, but it's not her fault. Well, not entirely anyway. Her mom is always away on some business trip or something.''  
  
J: ''Tough.''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
They reached the bridge and sat down next to each other.  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''Present.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes.  
  
R: ''Do you miss your parents ?''  
  
Jess didn't say anything for a while.  
  
R: ''I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked you that. I was way out of line.''  
  
Jess grabbed her hand and squeezed it.  
  
J: ''It's fine. I don't miss them.''  
  
R: ''You don't ?''  
  
Jess shook his head.  
  
J: ''It's kind of hard to miss them when they were hardly ever around.''  
  
Rory nodded. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what it was like to have no parents.  
  
R: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
J: ''Don't worry about it. I'm used to it and besides I have you to miss.''  
  
R: ''And Luke.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, but I like to miss you better.''  
  
Rory smiled shyly at him and rested her head against his chest. 


	11. Too friendly ?

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hello to all you wonderful people who read and reviewed my story! You don't know how much your reviews mean to me, even if it's just a simple sentence or one word. It's people like you who give my passion for writing that little extra touch. I just anted to let you know how thankful I am, in case you didn't know. Please review this chapter too. I especially want your opinion on Samantha. And I think I'll be able to update this story more often this week. YAH!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
The next day Rory got home from school an hour later than she normally did. Paris had wanted Rory to help her study for a History test. Paris clearly knew every detail of the Roman empire, but she wouldn't take Rory's word for it so somehow Paris convinced Rory to help her study. Rory closed the door behind her and sighed. At least that was over with and there was one good side to helping Paris study. Now, she didn't have to study for her History test anymore. Rory dropped her bag on the floor and went into the living room. She knew that Samantha would be home, but what she wasn't counting on was the fact that Dean would also be here. When she entered the living room, both Dean and Samantha looked up. Dean with an uncomfortable look on his face and Samantha with a self-sufficient look on her eyes and Rory thought that she even saw the beginning of a smile.  
  
S: ''Hey Ror.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Dean just nodded at her.  
  
R: ''Dean, what are you doing here ?''  
  
Just as Dean wanted to answer, Samantha jumped in and answered for him.  
  
S: ''I wanted to see Dean. You know, catch up on everything.''  
  
Rory nodded and looked from Dean to Samantha, finally resting her gaze on the floor. Talk about being confused. She knew that Samantha and Dean knew each other, but she never expected this. Finding them sitting on the couch together as if they were friends.  
  
D: ''I better go.''  
  
Dean got up from the couch and almost immediately Samantha got up too.  
  
S: ''I'll walk you to the door.''  
  
Dean nodded and followed Samantha to the door, walking past Rory on the way. Rory took a deep breath when Dean gently brushed past her, of course she didn't feel anything, but it was still strange. She slowly followed them to the door, waiting for Dean to leave so she could talk to Samantha.  
  
S: ''It was nice seeing you again Dean.''  
  
Samantha placed her hand casually on Dean's arm and smiled a heartwarming smile at him.  
  
D: ''You too.''  
  
Dean saw the flustered look on Rory's eyes, but pretended that he wasn't affected by this.  
  
D: ''Bye Rory.''  
  
R: ''Bye.''  
  
Dean turned around and left.  
  
As soon as Samantha closed the door Rory exploded, overthrown with all sorts of different emotions at the same time. But mostly she just felt confused and betrayed. Samantha knew that she just broke up with Dean and she knew that it was hard for Rory to see him again after everything that happened between them.  
  
R: ''What were you doing ?''  
  
Samantha turned around and gave Rory an innocent look.  
  
S: ''What do you mean ?''  
  
R: ''Why was Dean here ? You know I wasn't ready to face him yet.''  
  
Samantha crossed her arms, making her posture look even more defensive.  
  
S: ''It's always about you, isn't it ? Did it ever cross your mind that maybe Dean is my friend too ?''  
  
R: ''Of course it did, but you could have at least told me that you were planning to invite him over.''  
  
S: ''Yeah, well, excuse me for not walking around with an agenda that says when I'm allowed to invite friends over.''  
  
R: ''I didn't mean it that way and you know it.''  
  
S: ''You're just jealous ! You're jealous that Dean and me are friends and you and him are not.''  
  
R: Why would I be jealous ?! I dated him for almost two years remember ?!''  
  
S: ''Yeah, but you gave up everything you had with him when you decided to fall for that Italian guy at the diner.''  
  
R: ''His name is Jess !''  
  
S: ''Struck a nerve ?''  
  
R: ''And what was that thing at the door all about ?''  
  
S: ''What thing ?''  
  
R: ''You putting your hand on his shoulder.''  
  
Samantha shrugged.  
  
S: ''Just a friendly gesture.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, friendly. You were flirting with him.''  
  
S: ''So what if I was ? It's not like he's going back to you !''  
  
R: ''I don't want him to come back to me !''  
  
S: ''Then what's the problem ?''  
  
R: ''The problem is that I know you and I don't want Dean to get hurt.''  
  
S: ''Like he is now ?''  
  
R: ''I didn't mean to.''  
  
S: ''Yeah, well, tell that to him.''  
  
R: ''You just don't understand !''  
  
Rory turned around on her heels and stormed out of the hall. Moments later Samantha could hear her door slam shut. Samantha shrugged, not the least bit regretting what she just said and went back into the living room with a smile plastered on her face.  
  
*~*~*  
  
About an hour later Rory quietly closed the door behind her and started to walk in the direction of her destination. She was walking faster than she normally did. She wanted to get to Dean's as fast as she could before Samantha would get the chance to ruin everything. Dean would get a new girlfriend eventually and she would deal with it when the time came, but one thing she wouldn't be able to deal with was Samantha. Why did she always have to be so nosy and flirtatious ? And why Dean ? Weren't their enough boys back in her city that she could spoil and ruin ? When she reached Dean's door she rang the doorbell three times. After a few seconds Dean opened the door.  
  
D: ''Rory, hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey. Can we talk ?''  
  
Dean shrugged and opened the door a little further.  
  
D: ''Sure, come in.''  
  
Rory saw that he was trying to act as if nothing ever happened between them, but she didn't say anything about it. She had been trying that for the last two days now and it didn't work really well for her. Rory went inside and listened to Dean as he closed the door and walked over to her.  
  
D: ''So, you want something to drink ?''  
  
R: ''I'm fine.''  
  
Dean quickly looked at her and walked past her so that he could lead her into the living room. He gestured towards the couch and waited for the to sit down. As soon as she did, Dean sat down across from her. This way they didn't have to go through the entire talk being uncomfortable, because they were sitting next to each other, but at the same time they were still facing each other, making it easier for them to talk.  
  
D: ''So, what's on your mind ?''  
  
R: ''A lot.''  
  
D: ''Is everything okay ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, I'm fine.''  
  
He looked up and met her eyes for a second, reassuring himself that she was telling the truth. Rory saw this and smiled briefly.  
  
R: ''Actually I wanted to talk to you about Samantha.''  
  
D: ''That's what this is all about ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, but not in the way that you think it is.''  
  
Dean raised his eyebrows at her.  
  
D: ''Apparently you got the ability to read my mind.''  
  
R: ''Let's just say I'm gifted.''  
  
D: ''I can live with that. So, what about Samantha ?''  
  
R: ''I know that you two are friends and I think that's great, but.........''  
  
D: ''I don't like her as anything more than a friend. Did that answer your question ?''  
  
R: ''Okay, it seems like you're gifted too.''  
  
A smile played across Dean's lips, making his eyes soften.  
  
D: ''No offense or anything, but she's not really my type.''  
  
R: ''That's exactly what I thought. See how well we communicate ?''  
  
D: ''Obviously.''  
  
R: ''It's just that I know Samantha and she..........well let's just say I don't want you to get hurt.''  
  
D: ''It's a little too late for that, isn't it ?''  
  
Rory lowered her eyes and started to fidget with one of her beaded bracelets.  
  
R: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
D: ''I know you are, but it still hurts.''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
D: ''But eventually we'll both get over it.''  
  
Rory nodded and stared at her hands that were now clasped together in her lap.  
  
D: ''I'm glad your happy.''  
  
Rory looked up at him again and smiled.  
  
R: ''Thanks.''  
  
They stared at each other for a while, looking deep into each other's eyes remembering every single thing that happened between them. Rory was amazed how easily she had given that all up and started a relationship with Jess. But no matter how special Jess was in her eyes, Dean would always mean something to her and the memories of their kisses and conversations would always be there. And Rory wouldn't have it any other way, there was room enough in her mind for all her old memories as well as for the new ones.  
  
R: ''I better get going.''  
  
D: ''Okay, I'll show you the way out.''  
  
R: ''I appreciate it, cause I think I lost the map you drew me of how to get from your living room to the door.''  
  
D: ''I'll draw you a new one.''  
  
R: ''With pretty colors ?''  
  
D: ''Anything except pink.''  
  
Rory softly laughed as she followed him to the door. Dean opened the door. Rory turned around to face him.  
  
R: ''Friends ?''  
  
D: ''Friends.''  
  
*~*~*  
  
Jess threw his cigarette on the ground and put his hands in his pockets, ready to head back to the diner. But when he saw Rory come out of Dean's house he stopped. She was smiling at him and for the first time Jess felt jealous. Normally he wasn't the jealous and suspicious type, but with Rory it was different. The main reason was that he really cared about her and that he knew that his feelings towards her were real. And the second reason was that Rory was too modest and naive to notice when someone was flirting with her. He should know, cause it took her a while to figure him out and see that he wanted more than just friendship from her. But he didn't mind, he actually liked that about her. He saw her coming his way and patiently waited until she would reach him.  
  
Rory smiled when she saw Jess standing a couple of feet away from her. She started to walk even faster, her heart beating faster with every step she took towards him. It was amazing how Jess could still do this to her, make her feel as if they were just about to have their first kiss. She stopped in front of him and leaned forward to kiss him. Jess didn't stop her, but he didn't kiss her back either. Rory pulled away from him and met his eyes. Something was different about him, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it though. She took a step back and wondered what was wrong ?  
  
R: ''What's wrong ?''  
  
J: ''Nothing, everything's just peachy.''  
  
Rory tried to meet his eyes, but he just avoided them.  
  
J: ''So, why didn't Dean invite you over for dinner ?''  
  
Rory lowered her eyes and understood why he was acting this way. He must have seen her leave Dean's house.  
  
R: ''I went over there to talk.''  
  
J: ''Talk, really ? What about ?''  
  
R: ''Jess...........''  
  
J: ''Come on Rory, tell me. Unless it's some big secret.''  
  
Rory sighed and looked at her hands.  
  
R: ''Samantha was hitting on him earlier and I went over there to warn him. She has the tendency to take advantage of younger guys.''  
  
Jess nodded.  
  
R: ''That's all.''  
  
J: ''Are you sure that there's nothing else I need to know ?''  
  
R: ''Not really.''  
  
J: ''That's a yes.''  
  
R: ''Well, we sort of decided to be friends again. But we're just friends.''  
  
J: ''Uhuh.''  
  
R: ''You're mad.''  
  
J: ''Nope.''  
  
R: ''Yes you are. I'm sorry Jess. I just went over there to warn him about Sam, I swear.''  
  
J: ''Apparently you still care about him.''  
  
R: ''Of course I do.''  
  
Rory immediately regretted saying that when she saw Jess' eyes darken and his features harden. He became distant again and turned into the Jess that just moved here from New York, not caring or pretending not to care anyway.  
  
R: ''Jess.........''  
  
She reached for his hand, but Jess quickly pulled it back.  
  
J: ''I'll see you tomorrow.''  
  
He put his hands in his pockets and started to walk away from her. And stubborn as he was, he didn't look back even though he really wanted to.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rory went home confused and mad at herself for letting this happen. When she reached her room, she found Samantha sitting on her bed. As soon as she came in Samantha got up and tried to hide something that she was holding in her hands.  
  
S: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''What are you hiding ?''  
  
S: ''Nothing.''  
  
But Rory knew that she was lying. She walked over to her and saw what she had been hiding behing her back. Rory quickly pulled the piece of paper out of Samantha's hands and looked up at her, her eyes filled with anger.  
  
R: ''You were reading it, weren't you ?''  
  
Samantha didn't answer.  
  
R: ''You have no right to go through my stuff ! This is personal !''  
  
S: ''Yeah, personal. You and this Jess guy are more involved than I thought you were.''  
  
R: ''Get out of my room.''  
  
S: ''You know, he just copied something from an old book. Real romantic.''  
  
R: ''Please get out of my room.''  
  
S: ''You do have good taste though. I mean did you check out his body ?''  
  
R: ''Get out of my room !''  
  
S: ''Okay, okay, drama queen.''  
  
Rory waited for her to get out of her room and slammed the door closed in Samantha's face. Rory looked at the Jess' letter. She made a ball out of the letter and threw it across her room. She dropped herself on her bed looking at Jess' letter that was now lying on the other end of her room. After a while she sighed and got up from her bed. She walked over to the letter and picked it up. No matter how much she hated Jess sometimes, it were caring gestures like these that kept her going back to him. 


	12. What's the deal ?

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters, except for Samantha of course! All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! I didn't have a lot of homework today, so I had the time to write the next chapter. YAH!!! I hope you all like it!!! And personally I don't like Samantha, but hey that's just my opinions. Please review and let me know what you think of this chapter. Talk to me!!! O and again THANK YOU SO MUCH for the reviews. You're all WONDERFUL!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory sat on her bed, hugging her pillow as she stared at the little ball of paper that was now lying on her desk. She still hadn't figured out what she was going to do next. She knew that Jess was mad at her, even though he didn't say it. But she didn't feel like apologizing to him, there was no reason for her to apologize. She did nothing wrong in her eyes. All she did was look out for Dean, nothing more. Everything Dean and she had was platonic. Strange going from kissing every day to sitting across from each other. Rory groaned and hid her face in her pillow. She was frustrated and confused by everything that had happened. Then there was a knock on her door and her mom came in unannounced.  
  
L: ''Hey sweets. Taking a closer look at the pillow ?''  
  
Rory looked up at her mom and gave her a bothered look.  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''No ? Maybe the pillow was talking to you and you were listening really closely ?''  
  
R: ''Bye.''  
  
As soon as Lorelai saw that her daughter wasn't in the mood for her jokes she got a worried look on her face and closed the door behind her to keep Samantha from hearing any words that were exchanged between her and her daughter.  
  
L: ''What's wrong ?''  
  
R: ''Nothing, I'm just not in the mood for your jokes.''  
  
L: ''You're always in the mood for my jokes. Now, what's wrong ?''  
  
Lorelai walked over to Rory's bed and sat down next to her. Lorelai put her arm around Rory's shoulder.  
  
L: ''Tell mommy all your dirty secrets.''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''Let me rephrase that. Tell mommy what's bothering you.''  
  
R: ''It's Samantha.''  
  
L: ''Big surprise, that girl is a young Cruella de Ville without the fur coats of course and the whole chasing dogs thing.''  
  
R: ''Mom, focus on me for a minute.''  
  
L: ''Sorry. So, what did she do ?''  
  
R: ''She invited Dean over to talk.''  
  
L: ''Talk ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, she said she wanted to catch up.''  
  
L: ''I'll bet and since when is Dean friends with her ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
L: ''I'm sorry sweets.''  
  
She hugged her daughter, trying to comfort her.  
  
R: ''That's not all.''  
  
L: ''I'm still here.''  
  
R: ''I went over to Dean to warn him about Samantha that she's..........''  
  
L: ''A slut ?''  
  
R: ''Mom !''  
  
L: ''Wrong word, I get it.''  
  
R: ''I went over there, warned Dean and we decided to be friends.''  
  
L: ''That's great.''  
  
R: ''No, it isn't. Jess saw me leave Dean's house and now he's mad at me.''  
  
L: ''You two had a fight ?''  
  
R: ''Not really, he suspected me of something, I told him the truth and..........''  
  
L: ''You told him the truth ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''Let me guess, he didn't believe you ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''You should never tell a guy the truth.''  
  
R: ''Says who ?''  
  
L: ''The Lorelai handbook.''  
  
R: ''You have your own handbook ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, it's called: Lie to keep your guy.''  
  
R: ''Remind me to pick one up tomorrow. Nice title by the way.''  
  
L: ''Thanks, I still have a copy if you want.''  
  
R: ''You have a copy of your own book ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, I take it with me on every date.''  
  
R: ''Which date ?''  
  
L: ''Are you done with you story yet ?''  
  
R: ''Unfortunately not. See, Jess said that it sounded as if I still cared for Dean and then I said something in the sense of..............''  
  
L: ''You didn't ?''  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
L: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''Cause I do still care about Dean, maybe not in a girlfriend kind of way, but still in a hey, you're my friend kind of way.''  
  
L: ''I'm so getting you a copy of my book.''  
  
R: ''In case you haven't noticed yet, this is me asking you for advice.''  
  
L: ''I honestly don't know.''  
  
R: ''Thanks for the help, I'm sure me and Jess will be back to holding hands a decade from now.''  
  
L: ''I'm sorry, but I really don't know. This is your relationship, a weird one, but it's yours.''  
  
R: ''I thought I had to share it with the town.''  
  
L: ''Well, yeah, but I thought I would just leave that part out to make you feel better.''  
  
R: ''I have to work this out on my own, don't I ?''  
  
L: ''You think ?''  
  
R: ''It's not fair. I know that somehow this is all Sam's fault.''  
  
L: ''You're probably right.''  
  
R: ''When is she leaving ?''  
  
L: ''In a couple of days.''  
  
*~*~*  
  
When Rory came into the diner the next day, you could practically feel the tension between her and Jess. He didn't even look up when she came in. Rory kept her eyes on her feet as she followed her mom and Samantha to the counter. She quietly sat down, still keeping her eyes from looking up. She heard her mom beg Luke for coffee and moments later he placed a cup of coffee in front of her, not saying a word as if he knew that something was wrong.  
  
R: ''Thanks Luke.''  
  
Rory immediately placed her hands around the cup, glad that she had something else to focus on except that fact that things were definitely different between her and Jess. Finally she got the courage to look up at Jess. She sneaked a glance at him while she was taking a sip from her coffee. Suddenly he looked up at her and met her eyes and Rory immediately looked down again. She couldn't help it. Whenever she and Jess were in a fight she couldn't help but to be at least a little afraid of him. Maybe it was his attitude towards her, cause frankly him not even saying a word to her was scaring her. It made her feel bad about herself, as if she had done something really terrible and she didn't. It was just hard and frustrating at the same time. Rory took one last sip of her coffee and got up when she saw that her bus would arrive in a couple of minutes.  
  
R: ''I'm off, see you later mom.''  
  
Rory who didn't want to be there any longer than she had to, quickly put on her jacket and lifted her bag from the floor.  
  
L: ''Hang on, I'll give you a ride.''  
  
Lorelai finished her coffee in one gulp and got up from her chair.  
  
L: ''Bye Sam, later Luke.''  
  
Luke nodded and watched as Lorelai grabbed her purse and followed Rory to the door.  
  
R: ''Bye.''  
  
And with that the two girls were gone. Luke smiled and went into the back, leaving Jess alone with Samantha in the now empty diner. Jess looked up from the books that he had been 'reading' and caught a last glimpse of Rory as she closed the door behind her. It was uncomfortable with Rory and him not talking. He didn't think that it had been this quiet in the diner since Lorelai first moved to Stars Hollow. The usual undying optimism hadn't been here this morning and believe it or not he had missed it. He missed their crazy conversations about talking toasters and aliens, he had missed Loralai fighting with Luke for a simple cup of coffee, but most of all he had missed Rory's voice filling the diner with its sweet melody. The moment their eyes had met and he saw the confusion and doubt he was ready to forget about everything and apologize to her. Tell her that he had been overreacting, but of course he didn't. He was stubborn and even though no one could tell, her caring for Dean had hurt him. He knew that he couldn't expect her to just forget about Dean, but if they didn't talk to each other for lets say forever, he wouldn't mind. But he knew that Rory wouldn't let that happen, she was too nice and caring for that.  
  
S: ''So, what was up with that ?''  
  
J: ''Huh ?''  
  
Jess snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Samantha, who was still sitting at the counter with a glass of water in front of her. Jess didn't get why girls always had to watch their weight. Wasn't she thin enough ? Another thought that lead him to Rory. Rory didn't care much about her weight. he had heard her tell her mom that if she gained weight, she would just buy bigger clothes. And he had listened to her with a smile on his face. At that moment he had realized that Rory was truly one of a kind and that she had her own opinions on almost everything.  
  
S: ''The silence between you and Rory.''  
  
J: ''What are you talking about ?''  
  
Jess decided to play dumb, hoping that Samantha would just let it be.  
  
S: ''I'm not blind you know. I saw the way you two were acting all distant and ignoring each other.''  
  
J: ''Even if we were, it's none of your business.''  
  
S: ''Fine, but you should know one thing though.''  
  
J: ''And what's that ? You being the most nosiest person in town, which is hard by the way since the whole town is full of gossipers, but somehow you pulled it off.''  
  
S: ''Rory doesn't have feelings for you anymore.''  
  
Jess stopped talking when he heard Samantha saw the words he had been fearing ever since he and Rory first started hanging out, even though he would never tell a soul.  
  
S: ''I mean she obviously still cares about Dean. She practically ripped my head off when I invited him over.''  
  
J: ''Too bad she didn't.''  
  
S: ''And the letter you wrote her, that piece you copied out of Romeo and Juliet, I saw it lying on the ground in her room. Apparently you mean a lot to her.''  
  
Jess clenched his fists and tried not to explode, but it was hard. He shot Samantha one last look before he left the diner, slamming the door shut behind him. Samantha took a sip from her water and smiled a satisfying smile.  
  
Then Luke appeared from the back just in time to see Jess storm out of the diner. He looked from Jess to Samantha. As soon as he saw how satisfied she looked, he had no doubt that she had said or done something to piss Jess off.  
  
Luke: ''What happened ?''  
  
Samantha shrugged, but Luke saw right through her. He took another step towards her and looked down on her.  
  
Luke: ''Back off.''  
  
S: ''Excuse me ?''  
  
Luke: ''Jess has enough to deal with and he doesn't need you to make things even harder for him..........and Rory.''  
  
S: ''What's your problem ?''  
  
Luke: ''The problem is that Jess' my nephew.''  
  
Luke shot her an intimidating look. Samantha jumped up from her chair and left the diner. Luke shook his head as he grabbed Samantha's glass that was now half empty. What was the deal with teenagers these days ? 


	13. Kiss me here, kiss me there

*Disclaimer: I don't onw the series Gilmore Girls or the characters, except for Samantha of course! All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! Sorry I didn't update yesterday. i really wanted to, but I was just too tired. Good news though, I have four days of from school, so I'll probably update every day. Try at least. Anyway I can't wait for you to read this chapter. It's mostly focused on Rory and Jess. ;-) Please review and tell me what you think. I would really like to hear what you guys think of the ending. Did I do a good job ? Let me know. And THANKS to everyone who reviewed. LOVED THEM!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
That night Lorelai and Rory went over to Luke's without Samantha. For some reason she didn't wanna come with them. Not that Lorelai and Rory mind, the less time Rory had to spend with her the better. She always saw the good in people, believing that everything had something beautiful, but with Samantha she wasn't sure anymore. Rory thought of Samantha as a master in disguise, her beautiful appearance and sweet smile hiding her rotten personality. When they came in to the diner, Rory immediately noticed that Jess wasn't there. On one hand she felt relieved, but on the other hand she felt disappointed. She really wanted to fix things between them. Even though they hadn't talked to each other for only one day she had still missed him. She missed talking to him and just looking at him work in the diner. As soon as she and her mom sat down at the counter Luke came over to them, holding a coffee pot in one hand and two mugs in the other.  
  
L: ''There's my genie in a bottle. That's exactly what I wished for.''  
  
Lorelai gestured towards the coffee that Luke was now pouring into the two mugs.  
  
Luke: ''Consider your wish granted.''  
  
He handed Lorelai and Rory their coffee and turned around to grab a couple of plates that Ceaser had just put down.  
  
R: ''That makes one out of three.''  
  
L: ''What else should I wish for ?''  
  
Luke gave Lorelai a look before he turned around to serve the plates to a couple in the back of the diner.  
  
R: ''Leo Dicaprio ?''  
  
L: ''Didn't he drown in one of his movies ? What was the name of that boat ? It was really big and unsinkable.''  
  
R: ''The Titanic.''  
  
L: ''O yeah, right. I tell you the people who made the boat didn't do such a good job on it, I mean it sunk.''  
  
R: ''Taking a lot of helpless people with it.''  
  
L: ''Poor people, now they have to live on the bottom of the ocean forever.''  
  
R: ''That's gotta suck.''  
  
L: ''Not necessarily, I mean they have Leo Dicaprio to keep them company. Maybe he even started his own production company down there. DeepDown Productions. Wouldn't that make a cool name ?''  
  
R: ''It would, but you do know that Leo didn't really die in his movie, right ?''  
  
L: ''He didn't ?''  
  
R: ''Nope, so you still have a chance of meeting him one day.''  
  
L: ''That deserves a celebration. Do you think Luke has some of his famous brownies for us ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''Don't know. How about we take a nice salad to celebrate Leo not sinking in The Titanic ?''  
  
L: ''Since when do we celebrate with salad ? And since when do we even eat salad ?''  
  
R: ''We don't, but I just though that since this is a celebration we could eat healthy for once.''  
  
L: ''A salad or Luke's famous brownies ? Hmmmm difficult decision. Brownies it is.''  
  
Lorelai got up from her stool and went around the counter to get a couple of brownies. When Luke got back to the counter, Lorelai and Rory were both sitting on the stools again enjoying their brownies.  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''What ?''  
  
Luke: ''How did you get the brownies ?''  
  
L: ''I wished for them. Yeah, it was my second wish.''  
  
Luke: ''Why can't you just order like all the other customers do ?''  
  
L: ''Cause I'm special and you love me.''  
  
Luke: ''I agree with you on the first one. You are special in a crazy-hyper- psychotic kind of way.''  
  
L: ''Does that mean you love me in a crazy-hyper-psychotic kind of way ?''  
  
Luke: ''No, I love you in a hateful-disgusted kind of way.''  
  
L: ''Ah, I love you too Luke.''  
  
Luke rolled his eyes and went back to work. Rory quickly took a sip of her coffee to keep herself from laughing.  
  
About an hour later Lorelai and Rory got up to go home. They had finished their third cup of coffee and they each had about four or five brownies. The amazing part was that they didn't feel sick yet of eating so many brownies. Luke wiped his hands on a dishcloth and walked over to them. They were the last to leave, as usual.  
  
L: ''We're off Luke.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, see you in the morning.''  
  
Luke: ''Wait.''  
  
L: ''Yes Lukey ?''  
  
Luke: ''Can I talk to you for a minute.''  
  
Lorelai shrugged and sat back down on her stool.  
  
L: ''Sure.''  
  
Rory put her hands in her pockets and careful listened to what Luke had to say.  
  
Luke: ''It's about Samantha.''  
  
L: ''I know she's a brat, but she'll be gone in a few days.''  
  
Luke: ''That's not what I wanted to talk about. I mean don't get me wrong I can't stand her and I'm glad that she's leaving, but this is more about Jess.''  
  
L: ''If it's about Jess then why did you say that it was about Samantha ? I mean there's a big difference between Jess and Sam, the fact that he's a boy and that she's a girl for instance. But calling her Sam was probably confusing, cause that's a guys name too.''  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''Sorry, continue with your............talk.''  
  
Luke: ''Jess left the diner today mad.''  
  
L: ''So, he's a teen and teens have different moods every now and then.''  
  
Luke: ''You don't get it. He was really mad, I have never seen him so mad.''  
  
L: ''I did. Remember me calling him Jessica when he first moved here ?''  
  
Luke: ''The point is that I'm almost positive that Samantha had something to do with it.''  
  
L: ''What makes you say that ?''  
  
Luke: ''The fact that she was talking to him before he got so angry and the fact that she was sitting here with a smile on her face.''  
  
L: ''She really pissed Jess off ?''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah. Maybe he deserved it, I don't know, but still........''  
  
L: ''I'll talk to her.''  
  
Luke: ''Thanks.''  
  
L: ''No problem, I'll see you tomorrow.''  
  
R: ''Night Luke.''  
  
L: ''Night.''  
  
Once Rory and Lorelai got outside Rory removed her hands from her pockets and looked up at her mom.  
  
R: ''Is it okay if I meet you at home ?''  
  
L: ''Sure, why ?''  
  
R: ''I need to talk to Jess.''  
  
Lorelai nodded in understanding.  
  
L: ''I'll just go home and have a little talk with Samantha.''  
  
R: ''Good luck.''  
  
L: ''Thanks. O and if you wake up the next morning and you can't find her, she's not buried in our backyard.''  
  
Rory smiled half a smile and watched her mom leave. When she couldn't see her mom anymore, she turned around and started to head in the direction of the bridge. When she reached her destination, she could see him sitting on the end of the bridge, in the shadows of the night. Rory walked over to where he was sitting. She didn't even bother to be quiet, he already knew that she was here anyway. She sat down next to him, letting her legs dangle above the pitch black water.  
  
R: ''Why weren't you around today ?''  
  
J: ''Why ? Did you miss me ?''  
  
R: ''Well, yeah.''  
  
J: ''Should I feel guilty now ? Cause I can still do anything I want to when I want to the last time I checked, without your premission.''  
  
Rory heard the bitterness in his voice and decided not to say anything at all. She was shocked and hurt about what Jess just said to her. She didn't mean to make him feel as if he needed premission from her before he could do anything. All she wanted was to be able to see him at least once a day and whatever he did with the rest of his time was his business. She never thought of herself as an obsessive person and it hurt her that he thought she was.  
  
Jess glanced at her from the corner of his eye. He knew he probably hurt her even more than he already did by saying that last line to her. And he didn't mean it, not one word of it. She was the most understanding person in this town, in the world even and she would never expect him to be around her 24/7.  
  
R: ''Why are you being like this ?''  
  
J: ''Cause this is who I am.''  
  
R: ''No, it isn't.''  
  
J: ''How can you say that when you don't even know me ?''  
  
Rory gasped and tried very hard not to cry. She felt as if someone had stabbed her right in the heart. She couldn't describe what she was feeling right now. She was hurt and mad at the same time. Hurt that Jess thought that she didn't know him, cause she did. She did know him. She did understand him and she did understand that he wasn't the kind of guy that would call her fifty times a day or surprise her with flowers, but she didn't care. All she cared about was him as a person. And she was mad at him for saying that to her. Why couldn't he just understand that she only cared for Dean as a friend ? If he was going to be like this, then...........then maybe they shouldn't be together anymore.  
  
R: ''Are we breaking up ?''  
  
Jess shrugged.  
  
R: ''At least tell me what happened between us, please ?''  
  
J: ''I don't wanna be with you, when you don't wanna be with me.''  
  
R: ''But I do wanna be with you.''  
  
J: ''That's not what Samantha said.''  
  
Suddenly Rory understood. This was all Samantha's fault.  
  
R: ''What did Samantha say ?''  
  
J: ''She told me that you didn't have feelings anymore.''  
  
Rory turned her head and met Jess' eyes, hurt that he would believe even a single word that came out of her cousin's mouth.  
  
R: ''And you believed her ?''  
  
J: ''She saw the letter I wrote you, lying on the floor.''  
  
R: ''It isn't anymore.''  
  
Jess searched her eyes, wondering what she meant by that.  
  
R: ''I was just mad after what happened between us, but I couldn't just leave it there, lying on the ground. You mean too much to me Jess.''  
  
J: ''So, she lied ?''  
  
R: ''Wouldn't be the first time. I knew she had something to do with this. I mean she flirted with Dean, knowing that I couldn't handle it right after out break-up and then I caught her reading the letter you wrote me.''  
  
J: ''Why would she do that ?''  
  
R: ''Cause she's just a spoiled brat who doesn't give a damn about other people.''  
  
Jess smirked and locked eyes with Rory. He had never expected those words to ever come out of her mouth. It just wasn't like her.  
  
R: ''I'm sorry about Dean, but he was my first boyfriend and......it's just complicated.''  
  
J: ''I understand.''  
  
Rory looked at her hands for a moment before she met Jess' eyes again.  
  
R: ''So, are we still breaking up ?''  
  
Jess smiled at Rory. It was the most amazing smile Rory had ever seen. It made her heart melt and before she knew it she had her lips on Jess'. Jess slid his hands around her waist and pulled her closer, making their lips crush against each other. This was what Rory had missed, being able to touch him whenever she wanted to. She wrapped her arms around his neck and shivered when Jess ran his hands up and down her back. Jess broke the kiss and carefully wiped her hair away from her neck, making sure to keep his eyes on hers the entire time. He brought his lips to her neck and started to kiss her. Rory gasped and rested her head on his shoulder as he continued to devour her neck with his soft kisses while he kept running his hands up and down her back. Rory started to play with the hairs in the back of his neck, softly brushing her lips against the tanned skin of his neck. Jess lowered his lips to her collarbone and took in the feel of her lips on his skin. Suddenly they heard a branch snap. Jess stopped kissing her and looked up. Rory let go of Jess and turned her head to see what caused them to stop enjoying each other's touch. When Rory saw who it was, she couldn't believe her eyes. 


	14. Not perfect, but happy

*Disclaimer: I don't the series Gilmore Girls or the characters, except for Samantha. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! Sorry I didn't update this story sooner, but I finally found the inspiration to update 'You're being watched' again. Thanks to Lieke and Arline's support. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter, I know I wrote this chapter, but I personally think you should skip the first part and move on to Rory and Jess' phone call. ;-) Please review, I would really appreciate it and comments on Rory and Jess' conversation are definitely welcome. Anything you wanna say, I'm here. After this chapter there's only one more. At least that's what I planned. ;-) Thanks to all the people who read and reviewed the last chapter. THANKS!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Suddenly they heard a branch snap. Jess stopped kissing her and looked up. Rory let go of Jess and turned her head to see what caused them to stop enjoying each other's touch. When Rory saw who it was, she couldn't believe her eyes.  
  
R: ''Sam ?''  
  
Rory squinted her eyes to see if it was really her. When she saw that it was really Samantha, standing in the shadows at the beginning of the bridge she could feel herself get suspicious and angry. What was she up to now ? Didn't she cause her and Jess enough trouble ?  
  
R: ''Sam ?!''  
  
Samantha didn't say anything and just looked at them. Rory got up and wanted to head over to Sam, but before she could, Samantha turned around and ran away. Jess came up behind her and wrapped his arms around Rory's waist.  
  
J: ''What was she doing here ?''  
  
R: ''Trying to see if she could do more damage, probably.''  
  
J: ''Don't you think you're being a little hard on her ? Maybe she's just lonely.''  
  
Rory looked at the spot where Samantha had been standing, Jess' words running through her mind over and over, just like a broken record. What is she was lonely ? Finally Rory sighed and placed her hands on Jess' arms to push them away.  
  
R: ''I better go after her.''  
  
J: ''Okay.''  
  
He removed his arms from around her waist and dug his fingers into his pockets. Rory gave Jess a quick kiss on the corner of his mouth and turned around to go after Samantha.  
  
R: ''Bye Jess.''  
  
J: ''Until we meet again.''  
  
Rory didn't turn around, but he knew that she was smiling. He always knew, cause when she was smiling everything around him changed. The people got less annoying, the sky got bluer and most important he changed. Jess watched Rory until she disappeared and walked back to the diner with a grin on his face, knowing that everything would turn out okay for him and Rory.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rory found that it was pretty easy to catch up with Samantha. She could see her walking only a couple of feet away. Rory hurried towards Samantha and grabbed her arm to keep her from running away.  
  
R: ''Sam.........''  
  
Samantha roughly pulled her arm free in one jerk, but didn't turn around.  
  
S: ''What ?!''  
  
Rory took a step back and watched Samantha closely, afraid that her behavior might change in a couple of seconds.  
  
R: ''Why were you watching us ?''  
  
Samantha didn't answer immediately and slowly started to turn around.  
  
S: ''I wanted to see what it was like.......to be loved.''  
  
Rory had expected every answer possible..........except for this one. She never expected Samantha to be this forward with her of all people. Rory met Samantha's eyes and searched them, cause if she spotted even the tinniest hint of deceit in her eyes, she wouldn't give her the chance to explain. Rory would just tell her how angry she was at her, but luckily for Samantha she didn't see anything that made her think that Samantha was misleading her. She thought she even saw tears in Samantha's eyes, but that was impossible. She never cried, she had a heart of stone, cruel to everyone she didn't like.  
  
S: ''And I know that that doesn't excuse my behavior or what I did to you and Jess. And I'm really sorry, but your life's so perfect and I wanted to be a part of it.''  
  
R: ''My life isn't perfect.''  
  
S: ''You could have fooled me.''  
  
R: ''Do you know how complicated everything was ? Before you got here I broke up with Dean and it was all really confusing and everything was.......not perfect.''  
  
S: ''It's not ?''  
  
R: ''No, my life's not perfect, I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, just take Dean for example, I hurt him really bad.''  
  
S: ''Yeah, but you two are friends again, right ?''  
  
R: '''Well............yeah.''  
  
S: ''See, perfect.''  
  
Rory could hear her voice break and when she looked at Samantha again, tears were streaming down her face.  
  
S: ''Do you know how many times I wished that things were different between me and my mom ? She never has the time to listen to me, she's always at work and.........I'm always alone.''  
  
R: ''You're not alone.''  
  
S: ''Yes, I am.''  
  
Rory took a step towards Samantha and hugged her.  
  
R: ''I'm standing right here, so you're definitely not alone.''  
  
Samantha cried into Rory's shoulder and Rory wasn't quite sure what to do. She had never been in this position before, normally she was the one that was crying.  
  
R: ''Have you tried talking to your mom ?''  
  
S: ''She doesn't care, she doesn't care about me or what I do.''  
  
R: ''Yes she does, just try. She's your mom and moms care about everything you do even if it seems they don't. Just take my mom for instance when I tell her about school, she always turns up the radio and starts jumping around the house, cause she doesn't want to hear about school. But when something's wrong at school, she's the first to know.''  
  
S: ''But you're mom is so different from mine.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, well, that's because your mom is actually normal while my mom is............ Sometimes I think that she would fit in perfectly with the Looney Toones.''  
  
A small smile broke through Samantha's tears and she pulled away from Rory.  
  
S: ''Thanks.''  
  
R: ''Any time. Let's go home before we get attacked by aliens or crazy zombie people.''  
  
Samantha slightly laughed and nodded.  
  
S: ''Okay, but are you sure you're not one of the crazy zombie people ?''  
  
R: ''Yep. When we get home I'll pour some salt over my head to prove it.''  
  
Samantha smiled and started to walk in the direction of Rory's house. Rory kept glancing at Samantha to see if she really was alright. But Samantha walked the entire way home with a small smile plastered on her face.  
  
*~*~*  
  
That night, when everyone in the house was asleep, Rory was up making phone calls to everyone in Stars Hollow. A lot of them complained when they picked up the phone, but when they heard about Rory's plane they immediately forgot and said that they wouldn't miss it for the world. By 2 o'clock she had whole Stars Hollow covered except for one person. She quietly dialed Luke's number, in the hope that Jess would answer. After the fourth ring someone finally answered.  
  
J: ''Yeah ?''  
  
R: ''Morning Jess.''  
  
J: ''It's 2 o'clock so technically it is morning, but not in my universe. And why do you sound so happy ?''  
  
R: ''Can't I just be happy ?''  
  
J: ''Rory, it's 2 o'clock, so I suggest you get to the point before I hang up on you.''  
  
R: ''You can't hang up on me.''  
  
J: ''Don't tempt me.''  
  
R: ''But I'm your girlfriend.''  
  
J: ''And it's still 2 o'clock in the morning.''  
  
R: ''I'm aware of that.''  
  
J: ''Rory, what is it ?''  
  
R: ''Okay, fine, I'll tell you. The crazy zombie people found me and they turned me into one of them.''  
  
She could hear Jess sigh on the other end of the line.  
  
J: ''I'm not getting any more sleep tonight, am I ?''  
  
R: ''Probably not, unless you can listen and sleep at the same time. Besides don't you wanna know what happened between me and Sam ?''  
  
J: ''I'm gonna back to sleep now, but please keep talking and keep me up all night.''  
  
R: ''Thanks and I will.''  
  
J: ''Remind me again why I'm not hanging up on you ?''  
  
R: ''Cause you're in love with me.''  
  
J: ''Ah, you know my secret.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, I read your diary.''  
  
J: ''If you tell anyone I'll tell all my friends that you still sleep with a teddy bear.''  
  
R: ''My lips are sealed.''  
  
J: ''Then you won't mind if I hang up ?''  
  
R: ''Jess, you can't hang up yet.''  
  
J: ''Why not ?''  
  
R: ''Cause I'm bored and I need someone to talk to.''  
  
J: ''You can talk to your teddy bear.''  
  
R: ''Jess........''  
  
J: ''Alright, I won't hang up yet. You know you're pretty good at whining.''  
  
R: ''I know, learned it from my mom.''  
  
J: ''Why am I not surprised. What do you wanna talk about ?''  
  
R: ''The crazy zombie people ?''  
  
J: ''But............ Fine, tell me about the crazy zombie people.''  
  
R: ''Well...............''  
  
J: ''And after that we'll talk about Samantha.''  
  
R: ''You're interrupting me.''  
  
J: ''Rory..........''  
  
R: ''Yes.''  
  
J: ''Good, please go on with your fascinating story about the crazy zombie people.''  
  
R: ''You're mocking me.''  
  
J: ''Nope.''  
  
R: ''Okay, so anyway, the crazy zombie people showed up and....................''  
  
Jess grin grew wider has he listened to Rory's story about crazy zombie people. At some parts he would actually have to stifle a laugh, so that Luke wouldn't wake up. He wondered if her imagination and optimism ever ran out ? Probably not and he didn't want them too. He actually hoped that there would be more nights like these, the two of them just talking while he imagined her sitting cross-legged on her bed. She probably had a smile on her face and her eyes would shine with excitement. Jess closed his eyes and let the voice of an angel lead him to heaven, at least for a little while.  
  
On the other end of the room, Luke was lying in his bed with his eyes wide open as he listened to Jess comment on something that Rory just said. Luke smiled and knew that Rory Gilmore had broke through Jess' walls, just like another Gilmore Girl had done to him a couple of years ago. 


	15. This is it, my life

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters, except for Samantha. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! THIS IS IT.........THE LAST CHAPTER!!! I hope you all enjoyed this story, I know it probably wasn't one of my best ones, but I still hope you liked it. Also thanks for all the reviews!!! They were all wonderfull!!! Please review this last chapter too, I would like your opinion on this chapter, the entire story, anything really.  
  
*Shout out*: Hey Stef!!! Thanks for always reading my stories. Cause we both know you have read a lot of them. ;-) Really appreciate it. Hasta!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
The next morning the three Gilmore Girls went over to Luke's for one last cup of coffee, before they would walk Samantha to the bus-stop. They bell above the door jingled, spreading his happy yet annoying tune through the diner. Luke, who knew that it was them, didn't even look up. Jess on the other hand did and shot Rory a little secretive smile making her eyes sparkle even brighter than the most expensive diamonds. It made her feel special, it made her feel as if she and Jess had done something that only they knew about when really they didn't. Well okay, there was the phone call, but it wasn't exactly something earthshaking. Or maybe it was ? It did make her feel happy, talking to Jess on while the rest of Stars Hollow was asleep. Rory followed her mom and Samantha to the counter, never taking her eyes off of Jess. Lorelai saw and hid a smile. She sat down at the counter and greeted Luke.  
  
L: ''Howdy partner.''  
  
Luke: ''Morning Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''Wow, you're being all nice to me.......it's scary.''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah, well, I'm nice to psychopaths. You never know what they're going to do next.''  
  
L: ''Well this psychopath has a plan, coffee.''  
  
Luke: ''Are you sure you don't want herbal tea instead ?''  
  
L: ''How about some coffee ?''  
  
Luke: ''Fine, if you wanna pick your poison.''  
  
L: ''I do and I just did. Coffee sir.''  
  
Luke sighed as he started to pour some coffee in to a cup. He handed it to Lorelai and watched her as she eagerly started to drink, like it was some kind of love potion that would lead her to the love of her life. But what if she didn't need a love potion for that ? What if the love of her life was closer than she would ever know ?  
  
Jess glanced at Rory and hid his smile behind the book that he had been reading. As soon as Rory came in, he lost all his concentration and all he could do was look at her. He closed the book and put it back into his pocket. He casually walked over to where Rory was sitting.  
  
J: '''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Rory gave him a warm smile, there was nothing shy or insecure about it.  
  
J: ''Coffee ?''  
  
R: ''Is there anything else ?''  
  
J: ''Orange juice ?''  
  
R: ''Way too healthy.''  
  
J: ''I'll get you your coffee. How about you ?''  
  
Samantha looked up at him. Although she knew he was Rory's boyfriend, she couldn't help to notice how gorgeous he was.  
  
S: ''Water's fine.''  
  
Jess nodded and went to get the coffee and the water. When he handed Samantha the water, she looked at him with her big green eyes. He could see an apology written somewhere in them. He nodded and focused his attention on Rory again. He placed the coffee in front of her. Rory reached for the cup, just as Jess was letting go of it. Their fingers gently brushed against each other. Jess and Rory locked eyes for a moment before he got out his book again and started to read, pretending that he wasn't affected by the light touch. He always believed in leaving them wanting more, but right now he felt that it was the other way around.  
  
Rory silently drank her coffee as she listened to Lorelai and Luke argue........again. It was always the same. They came in, her mom asked Luke for coffee and if he refused she would beg or annoy him until he gave her the coffee. Rory on the other hand was smart. Ever since Jess moved to town, she just asked him for coffee instead of waiting for her mom to finally convince Luke to give them some coffee and look where that lead her.  
  
Samantha quickly finished her water and checked her watch. When she saw that she only had a couple of more minutes before she would head back home, a wave of sadness went through her. She really didn't wanna leave this little town. Everyone was so friendly here, even though she hadn't been, not to everyone at least. And she didn't wanna leave Rory. She has been so understanding, forgiving everything she did and even cheered her up and convinced her that her mom did care about her. Samantha got up.  
  
S: ''I better go, I have a buss to catch.''  
  
R: ''Hold on, we're coming with you.''  
  
S: ''To the bus-stop ?''  
  
L: ''No, we're moving in with you.''  
  
Samantha smiled. She knew it was a silly, little joke, but for some reason she still felt disappointed in some way. The two Gilmore Girls got up and Lorelai grabbed Samantha's bag.  
  
L: ''Come on Luke, you're coming too.''  
  
Luke: ''I am ?''  
  
L: ''Yep and Jess too.''  
  
Luke: ''Apparently you know me better than I do.''  
  
L: ''Please Luke ?''  
  
Luke: ''Why ?''  
  
Lorelai shot him a look and gestured towards Samantha.  
  
Luke: ''What do I mean why, of course I'm coming with you guys. Wouldn't miss it for the world, right Jess ?''  
  
J: ''Whatever you say Luke. Do you think maybe we could hold hands and skip first ?''  
  
Luke: ''I hate that line.''  
  
L: ''I think I have a skipping rope at home.''  
  
Luke: ''Why are you helping him ?''  
  
L: ''Cause I am the skipping queen.''  
  
R: ''The last time you skipped you tripped over the rope and fell flat on your face.''  
  
Luke: ''Way to go skipping queen.''  
  
L: ''Let's just go.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, we can skip on the way there.''  
  
Rory smiled and shook her head as she followed the rest towards the door. Moments later she felt Jess put his arm around her shoulders and she rested her head against his chest.  
  
*~*~*  
  
As they approached the bus-stop, they saw the huge crowd of people that was standing in front of it. Practically whole Stars Hollow was here, in front of the bus-stop.  
  
Luke: ''What the..........?''  
  
J: ''Are they holding a crossing the street race ?''  
  
Lorelai and Rory both shot him a look.  
  
J: ''I have seen weirder things.''  
  
Luke: ''He's right.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, like the outline of a dead body in front of Doose's. Did they ever find the person did that ?''  
  
Jess and Rory both smiled at the memory.  
  
L: ''Nope, Taylor's still working on it. He can be real persistent.''  
  
Luke: ''Tell me about it.''  
  
They reached the crowd and when they did, everyone was smiling and talking. Lorelai tried to catch some of the words, but because everyone was talking at the same time, she didn't have a clue what they were saying. Rory just stood there with a smile on her face, glad that everyone showed up just as they promised.  
  
L: ''Hey !''  
  
Lorelai tried to get the crowd's attention, but no one listened to her. They all continued gossiping. Lorelai put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. Finally the crowd noticed them and stopped talking long enough for Lorelai to say something.  
  
L: ''Finally. What is everyone doing here ?''  
  
Taylor took a step forward and started to talk.  
  
T: ''We came to say goodbye to Samantha.''  
  
S: ''You did ?''  
  
Mrs. Patty: ''Of course sweetie, you didn't think we would just let you leave without saying goodbye ?''  
  
S: ''Well...................''  
  
L: ''How did you guys that she was leaving anyway ?''  
  
Babette: ''This is Stars Hollow doll.''  
  
Mrs. Patty: ''We know about everything.''  
  
Luke: ''Especially you.''  
  
Mrs. Patty: ''What was that ?''  
  
Luke: ''I said how nice of you.''  
  
Mrs. Patty: ''Ah, it's nothing.''  
  
Samantha looked away from the crowd for a moment and met Rory's eyes. Rory smiled at her and Samantha smiled back. Whatever Rory did, she was thankful that she did. Right at that moment the bus arrived and the moment of Samantha's departure was there. Everyone in town either gave her hug or a kiss on her cheek. She even exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses with some of them. Kirk even brought Cat Kirk to say goodbye to Samantha. And even though she thought it was a little weird, she found it a real friendly gesture. These were truly the nicest people she had ever met in her entire life. Finally she found the four people who walked her to the bus-stop. She gave Jess a grateful smile, awkwardly shook Luke's hand and quickly hugged Lorelai. When she reached Rory she felt like crying, she felt as if she was leaving her best friend.  
  
S: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
S: ''Thanks for...........''  
  
Samantha looked around and smiled when she saw all the smiling faces around her.  
  
S: ''................everything.''  
  
R: ''Your welcome.''  
  
Samantha and Rory hugged each other tightly. When Samantha let go they both had tears in their eyes. In these couple of days they had become much closer than they were before.  
  
S: ''Don't forget to call me.''  
  
R: ''Don't you forget to mail me.''  
  
Samantha smiled.  
  
S: ''I won't.''  
  
R: ''Good luck with your mom.''  
  
S: ''Thanks, I'm gonna miss you.''  
  
R: ''Same here.''  
  
Samantha smiled and grabbed her bag. She looked at the crowd of people one more time before she stepped on the buss. She took a seat at a window so she could take a last look at Rory, Lorelai and all the crazy people in this town. Suddenly the thought of the crazy zombie people popped in to her head and she started to laugh softly. As the bus drove off, she knew that one day she would be back.  
  
When Rory and Lorelai couldn't see the bus anymore, they decided to get another cup of coffee at Luke's. They had their arms around each other as they followed Luke and Jess into the diner. When Rory closed the door behind her, she smiled. So, maybe her life wasn't perfect, but no one's was. It did come close though. 


End file.
